\ 


CITY  OF 
ENDLESS  NIGHT 


MILO    HASTINGS 


CITY  OF  $1.75 

ENDLESS  NIGHT 

By  Milo  Hastings. 
i 

\     A  tale  of  the  future,  enriched 
with  rare  satire  upon  the  world 
of    to-day.      In    its    powers    of 
imaginative    invention    it    rivals 
the  best  work  of  H.  G.  Wells. 
The  City  of  Endless  Night  is 
a  roofed-in  and  armored  Berlin 
wherein  the  Germans,  after  the 
Second  World  War,  have  been 
isolated  by  the  democratic  World 
State.     Into  this   stronghold  of 
autocratic  socialism,   an  Ameri- 
can    chemist     penetrates     and 
passes  off  as  one  of  the  "super- 
men."   Ranking  as  an  "intellect- 
ual," he  finds  his  place  between 
the  seventeen  thousand  descend- 
ants of  William  the  Great  and 
the    Blond    Labor    Brutes,    who 
scorn   to    work    for   wages   and 
strike  for  longer  hours.    The  au- 
thor succeeds  also  in  interweav- 
ing a  very  genuine  love  story,  an 
achievement  rare  in  tales  of  the 
future.     The  City  of  Endless 
Night  should  gain  for  its  author 
a  distinctive  place  both  as  a  sati- 
rist and  as  a  master  of  imagi- 
native invention. 


DodcL,  Mead   &    Company 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2010  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/cityofendlessnigOOhast 


CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 


CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 


BY 


MILO  HASTINGS 


NEW  YORK 
DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY 

1920 


Copyright,  1919,  1920, 
Bt  DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY,  Inc. 


$p~ 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    The  Red  and  Black  and  Gold  Struggle  fo?.  Supremacy 

on  the  Changing  Map  of  the  World i 

II    I  Explore  the  Potash  Mines  of  Stassfurt  and  Find  a 

Diary  in  a  Dead  Man's  Pocket 8 

III  In    a    Black    Utopia    the    Blond    Brood    Breeds    and 

Swarms 31 

IV  I  Go  Pleasuring  on  the  Level  of  Free  Women  and 

Drink  Synthetic  Beer 62 

V    I  Am  Drafted  for  Paternity  and  Make  Extraordinary 

Petition  to  the  Chief  of  the  Eugenic  Staff  ...     80 

VI    In  Which  I  Learn  that  Competition  Is  Still  the  Life 

of  the  Oldest  Trade  in  the  World 120 

VII    The  Sun  Shines  upon  a  King  and  a  Girl  Reads  of  the 

Fall  of  Babylon *<><> 

VIII    Finding  Therein  One  Righteous  Man,  I  Have  Com- 
passion on  Berlin J77 

IX    In  Which  I  Salute  the  Statue  of  God,  and  a  Psychic 

Expert  Explores  My  Brain  and  Finds  Nothing  .     .  205 

X    A   Goddess   Who  Is   Suffering  from   Obesity,   and   a 

Brave  Man  Who  Is  Afraid  of  the  Law  of  Averages  229 

XI    In  Which  the  Talking  Delegate  Is  Answered  by  the 

Royal  Voice  and  I  Learn  that  Labor  Knows  not  God  245 

XII  The  Divine  Descendants  of  William  the  Great  Give 
a  Benefit  for  the  Canine  Gardens  and  Pay  Tribute 
to  the  Piggeries 2^4 

XIII  In  Which  a  Woman  Accuses  Me  of  Murder  and  I 

Place  a  Ruby  Necklace  about  Her  Throat    .     .     .  298 

XIV  The  Black  Spot  Is  Erased  from  the  Map  of  the  World 

AND  THERE  Is  DANCING  IN  THE   SUNLIGHT  ON  THE  ROOF 

of  Berlin 3J4 


CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  RED  AND  BLACK  AND  GOLD  STRUGGLE  FOR 

SUPREMACY  ON  THE   CHANGING 

MAP  OF  THE  WORLD 


WHEN  but  a  child  of  seven  my  uncle 
placed  me  in  a  private  school  in  which 
one  of  the  so-called  redeemed  sub-sailors 
was  a  teacher  of  the  German  language.  As  I  look 
back  now,  in  the  light  of  my  present  knowledge,  I 
better  comprehend  the  docile  humility  and  carefully 
nurtured  ignorance  of  this  man.  In  his  class  rooms 
he  used  as  a  text  a  description  of  German  life,  taken 
from  the  captured  submarine.  From  this  book  he 
had  secured  his  own  conception  of  a  civilization  of 
which  he  really  knew  practically  nothing.  I  recall 
how  we  used  to  ask  Herr  Meineke  if  'he  had  actually 
seen  those  strange  things  of  which  he  taught  us. 
To  this  he  always  made  answer,  "  The  book  is  offi- 
cial, man's  observation  errs." 


"  He  can  talk  it,"  said  my  playmates  who  attended 
the  public  schools  where  all  teaching  of  the  language 


-2  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

of  the  outcast  nation  was  prohibited.  They  in- 
variably elected  me  to  be  "  the  Germans,"  and 
locked  me  up  in  the  old  garage  while  they  rained  a 
stock  of  sun-dried  clay  bombs  upon  the  roof  and  then 
came  with  a  rush  to  "  batter  down  the  walls  of  Ber- 
lin "  by  breaking  in  the  door,  while  I,  muttering 
strange  guttural  oaths,  would  be  led  forth  to  be  "  ex- 
terminated." 

On  rainy  days  I  would  sometimes  take  my  favoured 
playmates  into  my  uncle's  library  where  five  great 
maps  hung  in  ordered  sequence  on  the  panelled  wall. 

The  first  map  was  labelled  "  The  Age  of  Nations 
—  1 9 14,"  and  showed  the  black  spot  of  Germany, 
like  in  size  to  many  of  the  surrounding  countries,  the 
names  of  which  one  recited  in  the  history  class. 

The  second  map — "Germany's  Maximum  Ex- 
pansion of  the  First  World  War — 19 18" — 
showed  the  black  area  trebled  in  size,  crowding  into 
the  pale  gold  of  France,  thrusting  a  hungry  arm 
across  the  Hellespont  towards  Bagdad,  and,  from 
the  Balkans  to  the  Baltic,  blotting  out  all  else  save 
the  flaming  red  of  Bolshevist  Russia,  which  spread 
over  the  Eastern  half  of  Europe  like  a  pool  of  fresh 
spilled  blood. 

Third  came  "  The  Age  of  the  League  of  Nations, 
1919  —  1983,"  with  the  gold  of  democracy  battling 
with  the  spreading  red  of  socialism,  for  the  black  of 
autocracy  had  erstwhile  vanished. 

The  fourth  map  was  the  most  fascinating  and 
terrible.  Again  the  black  of  autocracy  appeared, 
obliterating  the  red  of  the   Brotherhood  of  Man, 


CHANGING  MAP  OF  THE  WORLD       3 

spreading  across  half  of  Eurasia  and  thrusting  a 
broad  black  shadow  to  the  Yellow  Sea  and  a  lesser 
one  to  the  Persian  Gulf.  This  map  was  labelled 
"  Maximum  German  Expansion  of  the  Second 
World  War,  1988,"  and  lines  of  dotted  white  re- 
treated in  concentric  waves  till  the  line  of  2041. 

This  same  year  was  the  first  date  of  the  fifth 
map,  which  was  labelled  "  A  Century  of  the  World 
State,"  and  here,  as  all  the  sea  was  blue,  so  all  the 
land  was  gold,  save  one  black  blot  that  might  have 
been  made  by  a  single  spattered  drop  of  ink,  for  it 
was  no  bigger  than  the  Irish  Island.  The  persist- 
ence of  this  remaining  black  on  the  map  of  the  world 
troubled  my  boyish  mind,  as  it  has  troubled  three 
generations  of  the  United  World,  and  strive  as  I 
might,  I  could  not  comprehend  why  the  great  black- 
ness of  the  fourth  map  had  been  erased  and  this 
small  blot  alone  remained. 

3 

When  I  returned  from  school  for  my  vacation, 
after  I  had  my  first  year  of  physical  science,  I  sought 
out  my  uncle  in  his  laboratory  and  asked  him  to  ex- 
plain the  mystery  of  the  little  black  island  standing 
adamant  in  the  golden  sea  of  all  the  world. 

"  That  spot,"  said  my  uncle,  "  would  have  been 
erased  in  two  more  years  if  a  Leipzig  professor  had 
not  discovered  The  Ray.  Yet  we  do  not  know  his 
name  nor  how  he  made  his  discovery." 

"  But  just  what  is  The  Ray?  "  I  asked. 

"  We  do  not  know  that  either,  nor  how  it  is  made. 


4  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

We  only  know  that  it  destroys  the  oxygen  carrying 
power  of  living  blood.  If  it  were  an  emanation 
from  a  substance  like  radium,  they  could  have  fired 
it  in  projectiles  and  so  conquered  the  earth.  If  it 
were  ether  waves  like  electricity,  we  should  have  been 
able  to  h~ve  insulated  against  it,  or  they  should 
have  beer,  able  to  project  it  farther  and  destroy 
our  aircraft,  but  The  Ray  is  not  destructive  beyond 
two  thousand  metres  in  the  air  and  hardly  that  far 
in  the  earth." 

"  Then  why  do  we  not  fly  over  and  land  an  army 
and  great  guns  and  batter  down  the  walls  of  Berlin 
and  be  done  with  it?  " 

'  That,  as  you  know  if  you  studied  your  history, 
has  been  tried  many  times  and  always  with  disaster. 
The  bomb-torn  soil  of  that  black  land  is  speckled 
white  with  the  bones  of  World  armies  who  were 
sent  on  landing  invasions  before  you  or  I  was  born. 
But  it  was  only  heroic  folly,  one  gun  popping  out  of 
a  tunnel  mouth  can  slay  a  thousand  men.  To  pur- 
sue the  gunners  into  their  catacombs  meant  to  be 
gassed;  and  sometimes  our  forces  were  left  to  land 
in  peace  and  set  up  their  batteries  to  fire  against 
Berlin,  but  the  Germans  would  place  Ray  generators 
in  the  ground  beneath  them  and  slay  our  forces  in 
an  hour,  as  the  Angel  of  Jehovah  withered  the  hosts 
of  the  Assyrians." 

"  But  why,"  I  persisted,  "  do  we  not  tunnel  under 
the  Ray  generators  and  dig  our  way  to  Berlin  and 
blow  it  up?  " 

My  uncle   smiled   indulgently.     "  And   that   has 


CHANGING  MAP  OF  THE  WORLD       5 

been  tried  too,  but  they  can  hear  our  borings  with 
microphones  and  cut  us  off,  just  as  we  cut  them  off 
when  they  try  to  tunnel  out  and  place  new  genera- 
tors. It  is  too  slow,  too  difficult,  either  way;  the 
line  has  wavered  a  little  with  the  years  but  to  no 
practical  avail;  the  war  in  our  day  has  become  merely 
a  watching  game,  we  to  keep  the  Germans  from  com- 
ing out,  they  to  keep  us  from  penetrating  within 
gunshot  of  Berlin;  but  to  gain  a  mile  of  worthless 
territory  either  way  means  too  great  a  human  waste 
to  be  worth  the  price.  Things  must  go  on  as  they 
are  till  the  Germans  tire  of  their  sunless  imprison- 
ment or  till  they  exhaust  some  essential  element  in 
their  soil.  But  wars  such  as  you  read  of  in  your 
history,  will  never  happen  again.  The  Germans 
cannot  fight  the  world  in  the  air,  nor  in  the  sea,  nor 
on  the  surface  of  the  earth;  and  we  cannot  fight  the 
Germans  in  the  ground;  so  the  war  has  become  a 
fixed  state  of  standing  guard;  the  hope  of  victory, 
the  fear  of  defeat  have  vanished;  the  romance  of 
war  is  dead." 

"  But  why,  then,"  I  asked,  "  does  the  World  Pa- 
trol continue  to  bomb  the  roof  of  Berlin?  " 

"  Politics,"  replied  my  uncle,  "  military  politics, 
just  futile  display  of  pyrotechnics  to  amuse  the  popu- 
lace and  give  heroically  inclined  young  men  a  chance 
to  strut  in  uniforms  —  but  after  the  election  this  fall 
such  folly  will  cease." 

4 
My  uncle  had  predicted  correctly,  for  by  the  time 


6  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

I  again  came  home  on  my  vacation,  the  newly  elected 
Pacifist  Council  had  reduced  the  aerial  activities  to 
mere  watchful  patroling  over  the  land  of  the  enemy. 
Then  came  the  report  of  an  attempt  to  launch  an 
airplane  from  the  roof  of  Berlin.  The  people,  in 
dire  panic  lest  Ray  generators  were  being  carried 
out  by  German  aircraft,  had  clamoured  for  the  re- 
call of  the  Pacifist  Council,  and  the  bombardment 
of  Berlin  was  resumed. 

During  the  lull  of  the  bombing  activities  my  uncle, 
who  stood  high  with  the  Pacifist  Administration,  had 
obtained  permission  to  fly  over  Europe,  and  I,  most 
fortunate  of  boys,  accompanied  him.  The  plane 
in  which  we  travelled  bore  the  emblem  of  the  World 
Patrol.  On  a  cloudless  day  we  sailed  over  the  pock- 
marked desert  that  had  once  been  Germany  and 
came  within  field-glass  range  of  Berlin  itself.  On 
the  wasted,  bomb-torn  land  lay  the  great  grey  disc 
—  the  city  of  mystery.  Three  hundred  metres  high 
they  said  it  stood,  but  so  vast  was  its  extent  that  it 
seemed  as  flat  and  thin  as  a  pancake  on  a  griddle. 

"More  people  live  in  that  mass  of  concrete,"  said 
my  uncle,  "  than  in  the  whole  of  America  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains."  His  statement,  I  have  since 
learned,  fell  short  of  half  the  truth,  but  then  it 
seemed  appalling.  I  fancied  the  city  a  giant  ant- 
hill, and  searched  with  my  glass  as  if  I  expected 
to  see  the  ants  swarming  out.  But  no  sign  of  life 
was  visible  upon  the  monotonous  surface  of  the 
sand-blanketed  roof,  and  high  above  the  range  of 


CHANGING  MAP  OF  THE  WORLD       7 

naked  vision  hung  the  hawk-like  watchers  of  the 
World  Patrol. 

The  lure  of  unravelled  secrets,  the  ambition  for 
discovery  and  exploration  stirred  my  boyish  veins. 
Yes,  I  would  know  more  of  the  strange  race,  the 
unknown  life  that  surged  beneath  that  grey  blanket 
of  mystery.  But  how?  For  over  a  century  mil- 
lions of  men  had  felt  that  same  longing  to  know. 
Aviators,  landing  by  accident  or  intent  within  the 
lines,  had  either  returned  with  nothing  to  report, 
or  they  had  not  returned.  Daring  journalists,  with 
baskets  of  carrier  pigeons,  had  on  foggy  nights 
dropped  by  parachute  to  the  roof  of  the  city;  but 
neither  they  nor  the  birds  had  brought  back  a  single 
word  of  what  lay  beneath  the  armed  and  armoured 
roof. 

My  own  resolution  was  but  a  boy's  dream  and  I 
returned  to  Chicago  to  take  up  my  chemical  studies. 


CHAPTER  II 

I    EXPLORE    THE    POTASH    MINES   OF    STASSFURT 

AND    FIND   A    DIARY    IN    A    DEAD   MAN'S 

POCKET 


WHEN  I  was  twenty-four  years  old,  my 
uncle  was  killed  in  a  laboratory  explo- 
sion. He  had  been  a  scientist  of  renown 
and  a  chemical  inventor  who  had  devoted  his  life  to 
the  unravelling  of  the  secrets  of  the  synthetic  foods 
of  Germany.  For  some  years  I  had  been  his  trusted 
assistant.  In  our  Chicago  laboratory  were  care- 
fully preserved  food  samples  that  had  been  taken 
from  the  captured  submarines  in  years  gone  by; 
and  what  to  me  was  even  more  fascinating,  a  col- 
lection of  German  books  of  like  origin,  which  I  had 
read  with  avidity.  With  the  exception  of  those  re- 
lating to  submarine  navigation,  I  found  them  stu- 
pidly childish  and  decided  that  they  had  been  pre- 
pared to  hide  the  truth  and  not  reveal  it. 

My  uncle  had  bequeathed  me  both  his  work  and 
his  fortune,  but  despairing  of  my  ability  worthily  to 
continue  his  own  brilliant  researches  on  synthetic 
food,  I  turned  my  attention  to  the  potash  problem, 
in  which  I  had  long  been  interested.  My  reading 
of  early  chemical  works  had  given  me  a  particular 

interest  in  the  reclamation  of  the  abandoned  potash 

8 


A  DEAD  MAN'S  POCKET  9 

mines  of  Stassfurt.  These  mines,  as  any  student  of 
chemical  history  will  know,  were  one  of  the  richest 
properties  of  the  old  German  state  in  the  days  be- 
fore the  endless  war  began  and  Germany  became 
isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  mines 
were  captured  by  the  World  in  the  year  2020,  and 
were  profitably  operated  for  a  couple  of  decades. 
Meanwhile  the  German  lines  were  forced  many 
miles  to  the  rear  before  the  impregnable  barrier  of 
the  Ray  had  halted  the  progress  of  the  World  Ar- 
mies. 

A  few  years  after  the  coming  of  the  Ray  defences, 
occurred  what  history  records  as  "  The  Tragedy  of 
the  Mines."  Six  thousand  workmen  went  down 
into  the  potash  mines  of  Stassfurt  one  morning  and 
never  came  up  again.  The  miners'  families  in  the 
neighbouring  villages  died  like  weevils  in  fumigated 
grain.  The  region  became  a  valley  of  pestilence 
and  death,  and  all  life  withered  for  miles  around. 
Numerous  governmental  projects  were  launched  for 
the  recovery  of  the  potash  mines  but  all  failed,  and 
for  one  hundred  and  eleven  years  no  man  had  pene- 
trated those  accursed  shafts. 

Knowing  these  facts,  I  wasted  no  time  in  soliciting 
government  aid  for  my  project,  but  was  content  to 
secure  a  permit  to  attempt  the  recovery  with  private 
funds,  with  which  my  uncle's  fortune  supplied  me  in 
abundance. 

In  April,  2 151,  I  set  up  my  laboratory  on  the 
edge  of  the  area  of  death.  I  had  never  accepted 
the  orthodox  view  as  to  the  composition  of  the  gas 


io  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

that  issued  from  the  Stassfurt  mines.  In  a  few 
months  I  was  gratified  to  find  my  doubts  confirmed. 
A  short  time  after  this  I  made  a  more  unexpected 
and  astonishing  discovery.  I  found  that  tkis  com- 
plex and  hitherto  misunderstood  gas  could,  under 
the  influence  of  certain  high-frequency  electrical  dis- 
charges, be  made  to  combine  with  explosive  violence 
with  the  nitrogen  of  the  atmosphere,  leaving  only  a 
harmless  residue.  We  wired  the  surrounding  region 
for  the  electrical  discharge  and,  with  a  vast  explo- 
sion of  weird  purple  flame,  cleared  the  whole  area 
of  the  century-old  curse.  Our  laboratory  was  de- 
stroyed by  the  explosion.  It  was  rebuilt  nearer  the 
mine  shafts  from  which  the  gas  still  slowly  issued. 
Again  we  set  up  our  electrical  machinery  and 
dropped  our  cables  into  the  shafts,  this  time  clearing 
the  air  of  the  mines. 

A  hasty  exploration  revealed  the  fact  that  but  a 
single  shaft  had  remained  intact.  A  third  time  we 
prepared  our  electrical  machinery.  We  let  down  a 
cable  and  succeeded  in  getting  but  a  faint  reaction 
at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft.  After  several  repeated 
clearings  we  risked  descent. 

Upon  arrival  at  the  bottom  we  were  surprised  to 
find  it  free  from  water,  save  for  a  trickling  stream. 
The  second  thing  we  discovered  was  a  pile  of  hud- 
dled skeletons  of  the  workmen  who  had  perished 
over  a  century  previous.  But  our  third  and  most 
important  discovery  was  a  boring  from  which  the 
poisonous  gas  was  slowly  issuing.  It  took  but  a 
few  hours  to  provide  an  apparatus  to  fire  this  gas  as 


A  DEAD  MAN'S  POCKET  n 

fast  as  it  issued,  and  the  potash  mines  of  Stassfurt 
were  regained  for  the  world. 

My  associates  were  for  beginning  mining  opera- 
tions at  once,  but  I  had  been  granted  a  twenty  years' 
franchise  on  the  output  of  these  mines,  and  I  was  in 
no  such  haste.  The  boring  from  which  this  poison- 
ous vapour  issued  was  clearly  man-made;  moreover  I 
alone  knew  the  formula  of  that  gas  and  had  con- 
vinced myself  once  for  all  as  to  its  man-made  origin. 
I  sent  for  microphones  and  with  their  aid  speedily 
detected  the  sound  of  machinery  in  other  workings 
beneath. 

It  is  easy  now  to  see  that  I  erred  in  risking  my 
own  life  as  I  did  without  the  precaution  of  confid- 
ing the  secret  of  my  discovery  to  others.  But  those 
were  days  of  feverish  excitement.  Impulsively  I 
decided  to  make  the  first  attack  on  the  Germans  as 
a  private  enterprise  and  then  call  for  military  aid. 
I  had  my  own  equipment  of  poisonous  bombs  and 
my  sapping  and  mining  experts  determined  that  the 
German  workings  were  but  eighty  metres  beneath 
us.  Hastily,  among  the  crumbling  skeletons,  we  set 
up  our  electrical  boring  machinery  and  began  sink- 
ing a  one-metre  shaft  towards  the  nearest  sound. 

After  twenty  hours  of  boring,  the  drill  head  sud- 
denly came  off  and  rattled  down  into  a  cavern.  We 
saw  a  light  and  heard  guttural  shouting  below  and 
the  cracking  of  a  gun  as  a  few  bullets  spattered 
against  the  roof  of  our  chamber.  We  heaved  down 
our  gas  bombs  and  covered  over  our  shaft.  Within 
a  few  hours  the  light  below  went  out  and  our  micro- 


12  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

phones  failed  to  detect  any  sound  from  the  rocks 
beneath  us.  It  was  then  perhaps  that  I  should  have 
called  for  military  aid,  but  the  uncanny  silence  of  the 
lower  workings  proved  too  much  for  my  eager  curi- 
osity. We  waited  two  days  and  still  there  was  no 
evidence  of  life  below.  I  knew  there  had  been  am- 
ple time  for  the  gas  from  our  bombs  to  have  been 
dissipated,  as  it  was  decomposed  by  contact  with 
moisture.  A  light  was  lowered,  but  this  brought 
forth  no  response. 

I  now  called  for  a  volunteer  to  descend  the  shaft. 
None  was  forthcoming  from  among  my  men,  and 
against  their  protest  I  insisted  on  being  lowered  into 
the  shaft.  When  I  was  a  few  metres  from  the  bot- 
tom the  cable  parted  and  I  fell  and  lay  stunned  on 
the  floor  below. 

2 

When  I  recovered  consciousness  the  light  had 
gone  out.  There  was  no  sound  about  me.  I 
shouted  up  the  shaft  above  and  could  get  no  answer. 
The  chamber  in  which  I  lay  was  many  times  my 
height  and  I  could  make  nothing  out  in  the  dark 
hole  above.  For  some  hours  I  scarcely  stirred  and 
feared  to  burn  my  pocket  flash  both  because  it  might 
reveal  my  presence  to  lurking  enemies  and  because 
I  wished  to  conserve  my  battery  against  graver 
need. 

But  no  rescue  came  from  my  men  above.  Only  re- 
cently, after  the  lapse  of  years,  did  I  learn  the  cause 
of  their  deserting  me.     As  I  lay  stunned  from  my 


A  DEAD  MAN'S  POCKET  13 

fall,  my  men,  unable  to  get  answer  to  their  shout- 
ings, had  given  me  up  for  dead.  Meanwhile  the 
apparatus  which  caused  the  destruction  of  the  Ger- 
man gas  had  gone  wrong.  My  associates,  unable  to 
fix  it,  had  fled  from  the  mine  and  abandoned  the 
enterprise. 

After  some  hours  of  waiting  I  stirred  about  and 
found  means  to  erect  a  rough  scaffold  and  reach  the 
mouth  of  the  shaft  above  me.  I  attempted  to  climb, 
but,  unable  to  get  a  hold  on  the  smooth  wet  rock, 
I  gave  up  exhausted  and  despairing.  Entombed  in 
the  depths  of  the  earth,  I  was  either  a  prisoner  of 
the  German  potash  miners,  if  any  remained  alive, 
or  a  prisoner  of  the  earth  itself,  with  dead  men  for 
company. 

Collecting  my  courage  I  set  about  to  explore  my 
surroundings.  I  found  some  mining  machinery  evi- 
dently damaged  by  the  explosion  of  our  gas  bombs. 
There  was  no  evidence  of  men  about,  living  or  dead. 
Stealthily  I  set  out  along  the  little  railway  track  that 
ran  through  a  passage  down  a  steep  incline.  As  I 
progressed  I  felt  the  air  rapidly  becoming  colder. 
Presently  I  stumbled  upon  the  first  victim  of  our  gas 
bombs,  fallen  headlong  as  he  was  fleeing.  I  hurried 
on.  The  air  seemed  to  be  blowing  in  my  face  and 
the  cold  was  becoming  intense.  This  puzzled  me 
for  at  this  depth  the  temperature  should  have  been 
above  that  on  the  surface  of  the  earth.  ' 

After  a  hundred  metres  or  so  of  going  I  came  into 
a  larger  chamber.  It  was  intensely  cold.  From 
out  another  branching  passage-way  I  could  hear  a 


i4  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

sizzling  sound  as  of  steam  escaping.  I  started  to 
turn  into  this  passage  but  was  met  with  such  a 
blast  of  cold  air  that  I  dared  not  face  it  for  fear  of 
being  frozen.  Stamping  my  feet,  which  were  fast 
becoming  numb,  I  made  the  rounds  of  the  chamber, 
and  examined  the  dead  miners  that  were  tumbled 
about.     The  bodies  were  frozen. 

One  side  of  this  chamber  was  partitioned  off  with 
some  sort  of  metal  wall.  The  door  stood  blown 
open.  It  felt  a  little  warmer  in  here  and  I  entered 
and  closed  the  door.  Exploring  the  room  with  my 
dim  light  I  found  one  side  of  it  filled  with  a  row  of 
bunks  —  in  each  bunk  a  corpse.  Along  the  other 
side  of  the  room  was  a  table  with  eating  utensils  and 
back  of  this  were  shelves  with  food  packages. 

I  was  in  danger  of  freezing  to  death  and,  tumbling 
several  bodies  out  of  the  bunks,  I  took  the  mat- 
tresses and  built  of  them  a  clumsy  enclosure  and 
installed  in  their  midst  a  battery  heater  which  I 
found.  In  this  fashion  I  managed  to  get  fairly 
warm  again.  After  some  hours  of  huddling  I  ob- 
served that  the  temperature  had  moderated. 

My  fear  of  freezing  abated,  I  made  another  sur- 
vey of  my  surroundings  and  discovered  something 
that  had  escaped  my  first  attention.  In  the  far  end 
of  the  room  was  a  desk,  and  seated  before  it  with 
his  head  fallen  forward  on  his  arms  was  the  form 
of  a  man.  The  miners  had  all  been  dressed  in  a 
coarse  artificial  leather,  but  this  man  was  dressed  in 
a  woven  fabric  of  cellulose  silk. 

The  body  was   frozen.     As  I   tumbled  it  stiffly 


A  DEAD  MAN'S  POCKET  15 

back  it  fell  from  the  chair  exposing  a  ghastly  face. 
I  drew  away  in  a  creepy  horror,  for  as  I  looked  at 
the  face  of  the  corpse  I  suffered  a  sort  of  waking 
nightmare  in  which  I  imagined  that  I  was  gazing  at 
my  own  dead  countenance. 

I  concluded  that  my  normal  mind  was  slipping 
out  of  gear  and  proceeded  to  back  off  and  avail 
myself  of  a  tube  of  stimulant  which  I  carried  in  my 
pocket. 

This  revived  me  somewhat,  but  again,  when  I 
tried  to  look  upon  the  frozen  face,  the  conviction 
returned  that  I  was  looking  at  my  own  dead  self. 

I  glanced  at  my  watch  and  figured  out  that  I  had 
been  in  the  German  mine  for  thirty  hours  and  had 
not  tasted  food  or  drink  for  nearly  forty  hours. 
Clearly  I  had  to  get  myself  in  shape  to  escape  hallu- 
cinations. I  went  back  to  the  shelves  and  proceeded 
to  look  for  food  and  drink.  Happily,  due  to  my 
work  in  my  uncle's  laboratory,  these  synthetic  foods 
were  not  wholly  strange  to  me.  I  drank  copiously 
of  a  non-alcoholic  chemical  liquor  and  warmed  on 
the  heater  and  partook  of  some  nitrogenous  and 
some  starchy  porridges.  It  was  an  uncanny  dining 
place,  but  hunger  soon  conquers  mere  emotion,  and 
I  made  out  a  meal.  Then  once  more  I  faced  the 
task  of  confronting  this  dead  likeness  of  myself. 

This  time  I  was  clear-headed  enough.  I  even 
went  to  the  miners'  lavatory  and,  jerking  down  the 
metal  mirror,  scrutinized  my  own  reflection  and  re- 
assured myself  of  the  closeness  of  the  resemblance. 
My   purpose    framed   in   my   mind    as    I    did   this. 


1 6  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

Clearly  I  was  in  German  quarters  and  was  likely  to 
remain  there.  Sooner  or  later  there  must  be  a 
rescuing  party. 

Without  further  ado,  I  set  about  changing  my 
clothing  for  that  of  the  German.  The  fit  of  the 
dead  man's  clothes  further  emphasized  the  closeness 
of  the  physical  likeness.  I  recalled  my  excellent 
command  of  the  German  language  and  began  to 
wonder  what  manner  of  man  I  was  supposed  to  be 
in  this  assumed  personality.  But  my  most  urgent 
task  was  speedily  to  make  way  with  the  incriminating 
corpse.  With  the  aid  of  the  brighter  flashlight 
which  I  found  in  my  new  pockets,  I  set  out  to  find 
a  place  to  hide  the  body. 

The  cold  that  had  so  frightened  me  had  now  given 
way  to  almost  normal  temperature.  There  was  no 
longer  the  sound  of  sizzling  steam  from  the  unex- 
plored passage-way.  I  followed  this  and  presently 
came  upon  another  chamber  filled  with  machinery. 
In  one  corner  a  huge  engine,  covered  with  frost, 
gave  oft  a  chill  greeting.  On  the  floor  was  a  steam- 
ing puddle  of  liquid,  but  the  breath  of  this  steam 
cut  like  a  blizzard.  At  once  I  guessed  it.  This  was 
a  liquid  air  engine.  The  dead  engineer  in  the  corner 
helped  reveal  the  story.  With  his  death  from  the 
penetrating  gas,  something  had  gone  wrong  with  the 
engine.  The  turbine  head  had  blown  off,  and  the 
conveying  pipe  of  liquid  air  had  poured  forth  the 
icy  blast  that  had  so  nearly  frozen  me  along  with 
the  corpses  of  the  Germans.  But  now  the  flow  of 
liquid  had  ceased,  and  the  last  remnants  were  evap- 


A  DEAD  MAN'S  POCKET  17 

orating  from  the  floor.  Evidently  the  supply  pipe 
had  been  shut  off  further  back  on  the  line,  and 
I  had  little  time  to  lose  for  rescuers  were  probably 
on  the  way. 

Along  one  of  the  corridors  running  from  the  en- 
gine room  I  found  an  open  water  drain  half  choked 
with  melting  ice.  Following  this  I  came  upon  a 
grating  where  the  water  disappeared.  I  jerked  up 
the  grating  and  dropped  a  piece  of  ice  down  the 
well-like  shaft.  I  hastily  returned  and  dragged 
forth  the  corpse  of  my  double  and  with  it  everything 
I  had  myself  brought  into  the  mine.  Straightening 
out  the  stiffened  body  I  plunged  it  head  foremost 
into  the  opening.  The  sound  of  a  splash  echoed 
within  the  dismal  depths. 

I  now  hastened  back  to  the  chamber  into  which  I 
had  first  fallen  and  destroyed  the  scaffolding  I  had 
erected  there.  Returning  to  the  desk  where  I  had 
found  the  man  whose  clothing  I  wore,  I  sat  down 
and  proceeded  to  search  my  abundantly  filled  pock- 
ets. From  one  of  them  I  pulled  out  a  bulky  note- 
book and  a  number  of  loose  papers.  The  freshest 
of  these  was  an  official  order  from  the  Imperial 
Office  of  Chemical  Engineers.  The  order  ran  as 
follows : 

Capt.  Karl  Armstadt 

Laboratory  186,  E.  58. 
Report  is  received  at  this  office  of  the  sound  of  sapping  op- 
erations in  potash  mine  D5.     Go  at  once  and  verify  the  same 
and  report  of  condition  of  gas  generators  and  make  analyses 
of  output  of  the  same. 


1 8  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

Evidently  I  was  Karl  Armstadt  and  vrery  happily 
a  chemical  engineer  by  profession.  My  task  of  im- 
personation so  far  looked  feasible  —  I  could  talk 
chemical  engineering. 

The  next  paper  I  proceeded  to  examine  was  an 
identification  folder  done  up  in  oiled  fabric.  Thanks 
to  German  thoroughness  it  was  amusingly  complete. 
On  the  first  page  appeared  what  I  soon  discovered 
to  be  my  pedigree  for  four  generations  back.  The 
printed  form  on  which  all  this  was  minutely  filled  out 
made  very  clear  statements  from  which  I  determined 
that  my  father  and  mother  were  both  dead. 

I,  Karl  Armstadt,  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  was 
the  fourteenth  child  of  my  mother  and  was  born 
when  she  was  forty-two  years  of  age.  According  to 
the  record  I  was  the  ninety-seventh  child  of  my  fa- 
ther and  born  when  he  was  fifty-four.  As  I  read 
this  I  thought  there  was  something  here  that  I  mis- 
understood, although  subsequent  discoveries  made  it 
plausible  enough.  There  was  no  further  record  of 
my  plentiful  fraternity,  but  I  took  heart  that  the 
mere  fact  of  their  numerical  abundance  would  make 
unlikely  any  great  show  of  brotherly  interest,  a  pre- 
sumption which  proved  quite  correct. 

On  the  second  page  of  this  folder  I  read  the  num- 
ber and  location  of  my  living  quarters,  the  sources 
from  which  my  meals  and  clothing  were  issued,  as 
well  as  the  sizes  and  qualities  of  my  garments  and 
numerous  other  references  to  various  details  of  liv- 
ing, all  of  which  seemed  painstakingly  ridiculous  at 
the  time. 


A  DEAD  MAN'S  POCKET  19 

I  put  this  elaborate  identification  paper  back  into 
its  receptacle  and  opened  the  notebook.  It  proved 
to  be  a  diary  kept  likewise  in  thorough  German  fash- 
ion. I  turned  to  the  last  pages  and  perused  them 
hastily. 

The  notes  in  Armstadt's  diary  were  concerned  al- 
most wholly  with  his  chemical  investigations.  All 
this  I  saw  might  be  useful  to  me  later  but  what  I 
needed  more  immediately  was  information  as  to  his 
personal  life.  I  scanned  back  hastily  through  the 
pages  for  a  time  without  finding  any  such  revelations. 
Then  I  discovered  this  entry  made  some  months 
previously: 

"  I  cannot  think  of  chemistry  tonight,  for  the  vision  of 
Katrina  dances  before  me  as  in  a  dream.  It  must  be  a 
strange  mixture  of  blood-lines  that  could  produce  such  won- 
drous beauty.  In  no  other  woman  have  I  seen  such  a  black- 
ness of  hair  and  eyes  combined  with  such  a  whiteness  of  skin. 
I  suppose  I  should  not  have  danced  with  her  —  now  I  see  all 
my  resolutions  shattered.  But  I  think  it  was  most  of  all  the 
blackness  of  her  eyes.     Well,  what  care,  we  live  but  once!  " 

I  read  and  re-read  this  entry  and  searched  fever- 
ishly in  Armstadt's  diary  for  further  evidence  of  a 
personal  life.  But  I  only  found  tedious  notes  on  his 
chemical  theories.  Perhaps  this  single  reference  to 
a  woman  was  but  a  passing  fancy  of  a  man  otherwise 
engrossed  in  his  science.  But  if  rescuers  came  and 
I  succeeded  in  passing  for  the  German  chemist  the 
presence  of  a  woman  in  my  new  role  of  life  would 
surely  undo  all  my  effort.     If  no  personal  acquaint- 


20  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

ance  of  the  dead  man  came  with  the  rescuing  party 
I  saw  no  reason  why  I  could  not  for  the  time  pass 
successfully  as  Armstadt.  I  should  at  least  make 
the  effort  and  I  reasoned  I  could  best  do  this  by  play- 
ing the  malingerer  and  appearing  mentally  incom- 
petent. Such  a  ruse,  I  reasoned,  would  give  me 
opportunity  to  hear  much  and  say  little,  and  perhaps 
so  get  my  bearings  in  the  new  role  that  I  could  con- 
tinue it  successfully. 

Then,  as  I  was  about  to  return  the  notebook  to 
my  pocket,  my  hopes  sank  as  I  found  this  brief  entry 
which  I  had  at  first  scanning  overlooked: 

"  It  is  twenty  days  now  since  Katrina  and  I  have  been 
united.  She  does  not  interfere  with  my  work  as  much  as  I 
feared.  She  even  lets  me  talk  chemistry  to  her,  though  I  am 
sure  she  understands  not  one  word  of  what  I  tell  her.  I 
think  I  have  made  a  good  selection  and  it  is  surely  a  perma- 
nent one.  Therefore  I  must  work  harder  than  ever  or 
I  shall  not  get  on." 

This  alarmed  me.  Yet,  if  Armstadt  had  married 
he  made  very  little  fuss  about  it.  Evidently  it  con- 
cerned him  chiefly  in  relation  to  his  work.  But  who- 
ever and  whatever  Katrina  was,  it  was  clear  that  her 
presence  would  be  disastrous  to  my  plans  of  assum- 
ing his  place  in  the  German  world. 

Pondering  over  the  ultimate  difficulty  of  my  situa- 
tion, but  with  a  growing  faith  in  the  plan  I  had 
evolved  for  avoiding  immediate  explanations,  I  fell 
into  a  long-postponed  sleep.  The  last  thing  I  re- 
member was  tumbling  from  my  chair  and  sprawling 


A  DEAD  MAN'S  POCKET  21 

out  upon  the  floor  where  I  managed  to  snap  out  my 
light  before  the  much  needed  sleep  quite  overcame 
me. 

3 

I  was  awakened  by  voices,  and  opened  my  eyes 
to  find  the  place  brightly  lighted.  I  closed  them 
again  quickly  as  some  one  approached  and  prodded 
me  with  the  toe  of  his  boot. 

"  Here  is  a  man  alive,"  said  a  voice  above  me. 

"  He  is  Captain  Armstadt,  the  chemist,"  said  an- 
other voice,  approaching;  "  this  is  good.  We  have 
special  orders  to  search  for  him." 

The  newcomer  bent  over  and  felt  my  heart.  I 
was  quite  aware  that  it  was  functioning  normally. 
He  shook  me  and  called  me  by  name.  After  re- 
peated shakings  I  opened  my  eyes  and  stared  at  him 
blankly,  but  I  said  nothing.  Presently  he  left  me 
and  returned  with  a  stretcher.  I  lay  inertly  as  I 
was  placed  thereon  and  borne  out  of  the  chamber. 
Other  stretcher-bearers  were  walking  ahead.  We 
passed  through  the  engine  room  where  mechanics 
were  at  work  on  the  damaged  liquid  air  engine.  My 
stretcher  was  placed  on  a  little  car  which  moved 
swiftly  along  the  tunnel. 

We  came  into  a  large  subterranean  station  and  I 
was  removed  and  brought  before  a  bevy  of  white 
garbed  physicians.  They  looked  at  my  identification 
folder  and  then  examined  me.  Through  it  all  I  lay 
limp  and  as  near  lifeless  as  I  could  simulate,  and 
they  succeeded  in  getting  no  speech  out  of  me.     The 


22  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

final  orders  were  to  forward  me  post  haste  to  the 
Imperial  Hospital  for  Complex  Gas  Cases. 

After  an  eventless  journey  of  many  hours  I  was 
again  unloaded  and  transferred  to  an  elevator.  For 
several  hundred  metres  we  sped  upward  through  a 
shaft,  while  about  us  whistled  a  blast  of  cold,  crisp 
air.  At  last  the  elevator  stopped  and  I  was  car- 
ried out  to  an  ambulance  that  stood  waiting  in  a 
brilliantly  lighted  passage  arched  over  with  grey 
concrete.  I  was  no  longer  beneath  the  surface  of 
the  earth  but  was  somewhere  in  the  massive  concrete 
structure  of  the  City  of  Berlin. 

After  a  short  journey  our  ambulance  stopped  and 
attendants  came  out  and  carried  my  litter  through 
an  open  doorway  and  down  a  long  hall  into  the  spa- 
cious ward  of  a  hospital. 

From  half  closed  eyes  I  glanced  about  apprehen- 
sively for  a  black-haired  woman.  With  a  sigh  of 
relief  I  saw  there  were  only  doctors  and  male  at- 
tendants in  the  room.  They  treated  me  most  pro- 
fessionally and  gave  no  sign  that  they  suspected  I 
was  other  than  Capt.  Karl  Armstadt,  which  fact  my 
papers  so  eloquently  testified.  The  conclusion  of 
their  examination  was  voiced  in  my  presence. 
"  Physically  he  is  normal,"  said  the  head  physician, 
"  but  his  mind  seems  in  a  stupor.  There  is  no  rem- 
edy, as  the  nature  of  the  gas  is  unknown.  All  that 
can  be  done  is  to  await  the  wearing  off  of  the  effect." 

I  was  then  left  alone  for  some  hours  and  my  appe- 
tite was  troubling  me.     At  last  an  attendant  ap- 


A  DEAD  MAN'S  POCKET  23 

proached  with  some  savoury  soup;  he  propped  me  up 
and  proceeded  to  feed  me  with  a  spoon. 

I  made  out  from  the  conversation  about  me  that 
the  other  patients  were  officers  from  the  under- 
ground fighting  forces.  An  atmosphere  of  military- 
discipline  pervaded  the  hospital  and  I  felt  reassured 
in  the  conclusion  that  all  visiting  was  forbidden. 

Yet  my  thoughts  turned  repeatedly  to  the  black- 
eyed  Katrina  of  Armstadt's  diary.  No  doubt  she 
had  been  informed  of  the  rescue  and  was  waiting 
in  grief  and  anxiety  to  see  him.  So  both  she  and  I 
were  awaiting  a  tragic  moment  —  she  to  learn  that 
her  husband  or  lover  was  dead,  I  for  the  inevitable 
tearing  off  of  my  protecting  disguise. 

After  some  days  the  head  physician  came  to  my 
cot  and  questioned  me.  I  gazed  at  him  and  knit 
my  brows  as  if  struggling  to  think. 

"  You  were  gassed  in  the  mine,"  he  kept  repeat- 
ing, "  can  you  remember?  " 

"  Yes,"  I  ventured,  "  I  went  to  the  mine,  there 
was  the  sound  of  boring  overhead.  I  set  men  to 
watch;  I  was  at  the  desk,  I  heard  shouting,  after 
that  I  cannot  remember." 

"  They  were  all  dead  but  you,"  said  the  doctor. 

"  All  dead,"  I  repeated.  I  liked  the  sound  of  this 
and  so  kept  on  mumbling  "  All  dead,  all  dead." 

4 
My  plan  was  working  nicely.     But  I  realized  I 
could  not  keep  up  this  role  for  ever.     Nor  did  I 


24  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

wish  to,  for  the  idleness  and  suspense  were  intoler- 
able and  I  knew  that  I  would  rather  face  whatever 
problems  my  recovery  involved  than  to  continue  in 
this  monotonous  and  meaningless  existence.  So  I 
convalesced  by  degrees  and  got  about  the  hospital, 
and  was  permitted  to  wait  on  myself.  But  I  culti- 
vated a  slowness  and  brevity  of  speech. 

One  day  as  I  sat  reading  the  attendant  announced, 
"  A  visitor  to  see  you,  sir." 

Trembling  with  excitement  and  fear  I  tensely 
waited  the  coming  of  the  visitor. 

Presently  a  stolid-faced  young  man  followed  the 
attendant  into  the  room.  "  You  remember  Hol- 
knecht,"  said  the  nurse,  "  he  is  your  assistant  at  the 
laboratory." 

I  stared  stupidly  at  the  man,  and  cold  fear  crept 
over  me  as  he,  with  puzzled  eyes,  returned  my  gaze. 

"  You  are  much  changed,"  he  said  at  last.  "  I 
hardly  recognize  you." 

"  I  have  been  very  ill,"  I  replied. 

Just  then  the  head  physician  came  into  the  room 
and  seeing  me  talking  to  a  stranger  walked  over  to 
us.  As  I  said  nothing,  Holknecht  introduced  him- 
self. The  medical  man  began  at  once  to  enlarge 
upon  the  peculiarities  of  my  condition.  "  The  un- 
known gas,"  he  explained,  "  acted  upon  the  whole 
nervous  system  and  left  profound  effects.  Never  in 
the  records  of  the  hospital  has  there  been  so  strange 
a  case." 

Holknecht  seemed  quite  awed  and  completely 
credulous. 


A  DEAD  MAN'S  POCKET  25 

"  His  memory  must  be  revived,"  continued  the 
head  physician,  "  and  that  can  best  be  done  by  re- 
calling the  dominating  interest  of  his  mind." 

"  Captain  Armstadt  was  wholly  absorbed  in  his 
research  work  in  the  laboratory,"  offered  Hol- 
knecht. 

"  Then,"  said  the  physician,  "  you  must  revive 
the  activity  of  those  particular  brain  cells." 

With  that  command  the  laboratory  assistant  was 
left  in  charge.  He  took  his  new  task  quite  seri- 
ously. Turning  to  me  and  raising  his  voice  as  if  to 
penetrate  my  dulled  mentality,  he  began,  "  Do  you 
not  remember  our  work  in  the  laboratory?  " 

"  Yes,  the  laboratory,  the  laboratory,"  I  repeated 
vaguely. 

Holknecht  described  the  laboratory  in  detail  and 
gradually  his  talk  drifted  into  an  account  of  the 
chemical  research.  I  listened  eagerly  to  get  the 
threads  of  the  work  I  must  needs  do  if  I  were  to 
maintain  my  role  as  Armstadt. 

Knowing  now  that  visitors  were  permitted  me,  I 
again  grew  apprehensive  over  the  possible  advent  of 
Katrina.  But  no  woman  appeared,  in  fact  I  had 
not  yet  seen  a  woman  among  the  Germans.  Always 
it  was  Holknecht  and,  strictly  according  to  his  or- 
ders, he  talked  incessant  chemistry. 

5 
The  day  I  resumed  my  normal  wearing  apparel 
I  was  shown  into  a  large  lounging  room  for  conva- 
lescents.    I  seated  myself   a  short  distance   apart 


26  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

from  a  group  of  officers  and  sat  eyeing  another 
group  of  large,  hulking  fellows  at  the  far  end  of 
the  room.  These  I  concluded  to  be  common  sol- 
diers, for  I  heard  the  officers  in  my  ward  grumbling 
at  the  fact  that  they  were  quartered  in  the  same  hos- 
pital with  men  of  the  ranks. 

Presently  an  officer  came  over  and  took  a  seat 
beside  me.  "  It  is  very  rarely  that  you  men  in  the 
professional  service  are  gassed,"  he  said.  "  You 
must  have  a  dull  life,  I  do  not  see  how  you  can 
stand  it." 

"  But  certainly,"  I  replied,  "  it  is  not  so  danger- 
ous." 

"  And  for  that  reason  it  must  be  stupid  —  I,  for 
one,  think  that  even  in  the  fighting  forces  there  is 
no  longer  sufficient  danger  to  keep  up  the  military 
morale.  Danger  makes  men  courageous  —  without 
danger  courage  declines  —  and  without  courage 
what  advantage  would  there  be  in  the  military  life?  " 

"  Suppose,"  I  suggested,  "  the  war  should  come 
to  an  end?  " 

"But  how  can  it?"  he  asked  incredulously. 
"  How  can  there  be  an  end  to  the  war?  We  can- 
not prevent  the  enemy  from  fighting." 

"  But  what,"  I  ventured,  "  if  the  enemy  should 
decide  to  quit  fighting?  " 

"  They  have  almost  quit  now,"  he  remarked  with 
apparent  disgust;  "  they  are  losing  the  fighting  spirit 
—  but  no  wonder  —  they  say  that  the  World  State 
population  is  so  great  that  only  two  per  cent,  of  its 
men  are  in  the  fighting  forces.     What  I  cannot  see 


A  DEAD  MAN'S  POCKET  27 

is  how  a  people  so  peaceful  can  keep  from  utter 
degeneration.  And  they  say  that  the  World  State 
soldiers  are  not  even  bred  for  soldiering  but  are 
picked  from  all  classes.  If  they  should  decide  to 
quit  fighting,  as  you  suggest,  we  also  would  have  to 
quit  —  it  would  intolerable  —  it  is  bad  enough  now." 

"  But  could  you  not  return  to  industrial  life  and 
do  something  productive?  " 

"  Productive !  "  sneered  the  fighter.  "  I  knew 
that  you  professional  men  had  no  courage  —  it  is 
not  to  be  expected  —  but  I  never  before  heard  even 
one  of  your  class  suggest  a  thing  like  that  —  a  mili- 
tary man  do  something  productive  !  Why  don't  you 
suggest  that  we  be  changed  to  women?  "  And  with 
that  my  fellow  patient  rose  and,  tu-rning  sharply  on 
his  metal  heel,  walked  away. 

The  officer's  attitude  towards  his  profession  set 
me  thinking,  and  I  found  myself  wondering  how  far 
it  was  shared  by  the  common  soldiers.  The  next 
day  when  I  came  out  into  the  convalescent  corridor 
I  walked  past  the  group  of  officers  and  went  down 
among  the  men  whose  garments  bore  no  medals  or 
insignia.  They  were  unusually  large  men,  evidently 
from  some  specially  selected  regiment.  Picking  out 
the  most  intelligent  looking  one  of  the  group  I  sat 
down  beside  him. 

"  Is  this  the  first  time  you  have  been  gassed?  "  I 
inquired. 

"  Third  time,"  replied  the  soldier. 

"  I  should  think  you  would  have  been  discharged." 

"  Discharged,"  said  the  soldier,   in  a  perplexed 


28  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

tone,  "  why  I  am  only  forty-four  years  old,  why 
should  I  be  discharged  unless  I  get  in  an  explosion 
and  lose  a  leg  or  something?  " 

"  But  you  have  been  gassed  three  times,"  I  said, 
"  I  should  think  they  ought  to  let  you  return  to  civil 
life  and  your  family." 

The  soldier  looked  hard  at  the  insignia  of  my 
rank  as  captain.  "  You  professional  officers  don't 
know  much,  do  you?  A  soldier  quit  and  do  common 
labor,  now  that's  a  fine  idea.  And  a  family!  Do 
you  think  I'm  a  Hohenzollern?  "  At  the  thought 
the  soldier  chuckled.  "  Me  with  a  family,"  he  mut- 
tered to  himself,  "  now  that's  a  fine  idea." 

I  saw  that  I  was  getting  on  dangerous  ground  but 
curiosity  prompted  a  further  question:  "Then,  I 
suppose,  you  have  nothing  to  hope  for  until  you 
reach  the  age  of  retirement,  unless  war  should  come 
to  an  end?  " 

Again  the  soldier  eyed  me  carefully.  "  Now  you 
do  have  some  queer  ideas.  There  was  a  man  in  our 
company  who  used  to  talk  like  that  when  no  officers 
were  around.  This  fellow,  his  name  was  Mannteu- 
fel,  said  he  could  read  books,  that  he  was  a  forbid- 
den love-child  and  his  father  was  an  officer.  I  guess 
he  was  forbidden  all  right,  for  he  certainly  wasn't 
right  in  his  head.  He  said  that  we  would  go  out 
on  the  top  of  the  ground  and  march  over  the  enemy 
country  and  be  shot  at  by  the  flying  planes,  like  the 
roof  guards.  If  the  officers  had  heard  him  they 
would  surely  have  sent  him  to  the  crazy  ward  — 
why  he  said  that  the  war  would  be  over  after  that, 


A  DEAD  MAN'S  POCKET  29 

and  we  would  all  go  to  the  enemy  country  and  go 
about  as  we  liked,  and  own  houses  and  women  and 
flying  planes  and  animals.  As  if  the  Royal  House 
would  ever  let  a  soldier  do  things  like  that." 

"  Well,"  I  said,  "  and  why  not,  if  the  war  were 
over?  " 

"  Now  there  you  go  again  —  how  do  you  mean 
the  war  was  over,  what  would  all  us  soldiers  do  if 
there   was   no   fighting?  " 

"  You  could  work,"  I  said,  "  in  the  shops." 

"  But  if  we  worked  in  the  shops,  what  would 
the  workmen  do?  " 

"  They  would  work  too,"  I  suggested. 

The  soldier  was  silent  for  a  time.  "  I  think  I 
get  your  idea,"  he  said.  "  The  Eugenic  Staff  would 
cut  down  the  birth  rates  so  that  there  would  only 
be  enough  soldiers  and  workers  to  fill  the  working 
jobs." 

"  They  might  do  that,"  I  remarked,  wishing  to 
lead  him  on. 

"  Well,"  said  the  soldier,  returning  to  the  former 
thought,  "  I  hope  they  won't  do  that  until  I  am 
dead.  I  don't  care  to  go  up  on  the  ground  to  get 
shot  at  by  the  fighting  planes.  At  least  now  we 
have  something  over  our  heads  and  if  we  are  going 
to  get  gassed  or  blown  up  we  can't  see  it  coming. 
At  least  —  " 

Just  then  the  officer  with  whom  I  had  talked  the 
day  before  came  up.  He  stopped  before  us  and 
scowled  at  the  soldier  who  saluted  in  hasty  con- 
fusion. 


3o  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

"  I  wish,  Captain,"  said  the  officer  addressing  me, 
"  that  you  would  not  take  advantage  of  these  absurd 
hospital  conditions  to  disrupt  discipline  by  fraterniz- 
ing with  a  private." 

At  this  the  soldier  looked  up  and  saluted  again. 

"Well?"  said  the  officer. 

11  He's  not  to  blame,  sir,"  said  the  soldier,  "  he's 
off  his  head." 


CHAPTER  III 

IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  THE  BLOND  BROOD  BREEDS 
AND    SWARMS 


IT  was  with  a  strange  mixture  of  eagerness  and 
fear  that  I  received  the  head  physician's  de- 
cision that  I  would  henceforth  recover  my 
faculties  more  rapidly  in  the  familiar  environment 
of  my  own  home. 

A  wooden-faced  male  nurse  accompanied  me  in  a 
closed  vehicle  that  ran  noiselessly  through  the 
vaulted  interior  streets  of  the  completely  roofed-in 
city.  Once  our  vehicle  entered  an  elevator  and 
was  let  down  a  brief  distance.  We  finally  alighted 
in  a  street  very  like  the  one  on  which  the  hospital  was 
located,  and  filed  down  a  narrow  passage-way.  My 
companion  asked  for  my  keys,  which  I  found  in  my 
clothing.  I  stood  by  with  a  palpitating  heart  as 
he  turned  the  lock  and  opened  the  door. 

The  place  we  entered  was  a  comfortably  fur- 
nished bachelor's  apartment.  Books  and  papers 
were  littered  about  giving  evidence  of  no  disturbance 
since  the  sudden  leaving  of  the  occupant.  Im- 
mensely relieved  I  sat  down  in  an  upholstered  chair 
while  the  nurse  scurried  about  and  put  the  place  in 
order. 

31 


32  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

11  You  feel  quite  at  home  ?  "  he  asked  as  he  fin- 
ished his  task. 

"  Quite,"  I  replied,  "  things  are  coming  back  to 
me  now." 

"  You  should  have  been  sent  home  sooner,"  he 
said.  "  I  wished  to  tell  the  chief  as  much,  but  I 
am  only  a  second  year  interne  and  it  is  forbidden  me 
to  express  an  original  opinion  to  him." 

"  I  am  sure  I  will    be  all  right  now,"  I  replied. 

He  turned  to  go  and  then  paused.  "  I  think,"  he 
said,  "  that  you  should  have  some  notice  on  you 
that  when  you  do  go  out,  if  you  become  confused 
and  make  mistakes,  the  guards  will  understand.  I 
will  speak  to  Lieut.  Forrester,  the  Third  Assistant, 
and  ask  that  such  a  card  be  sent  you."  With  that 
he  took  his  departure. 

When  he  had  gone  I  breathed  joyfully  and  freely. 
The  rigid  face  and  staring  eye  that  I  had  cultivated 
relaxed  into  a  natural  smile  and  then  I  broke  into 
a  laugh.  Here  I  was  in  the  heart  of  Berlin,  unsus- 
pected of  being  other  than  a  loyal  German  and  free, 
for  the  time  at  least,  from  problems  of  personal  re- 
lations. 

I  now  made  an  elaborate  inspection  of  my  sur- 
roundings. I  found  a  wardrobe  full  of  men's  cloth- 
ing, all  of  a  single  shade  of  mauve  like  the  suit  I 
wore.  Some  suits  I  guessed  to  be  work  clothes 
from  their  cheaper  texture  and  some,  much  finer, 
were  evidently  dress  apparel. 

Having  reassured  myself  that  Armstadt  had  been 
the  only  occupant  of  the  apartment,  I  turned  to  a 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  33 

pile  of  papers  that  the  hospital  attendant  had  picked 
up  from  the  floor  where  they  had  dropped  from  a 
mail  chute.  Most  of  these  proved  to  be  the  accum- 
ulated copies  of  a  daily  chemical  news  bulletin. 
Others  were  technical  chemical  journals.  Among 
the  letters  I  found  an  invitation  to  a  meeting  of  a 
chemical  society,  and  a  note  from  my  tailor  asking 
me  to  call;  the  third  letter  was  written  on  a  type- 
writer, an  instrument  the  like  of  which  I  had  already 
discovered  in  my  study.  This  sheet  bore  a  neatly 
engraved  head  reading  "  Katrina,  Permit  843  LX, 
Apartment  57,  K  Street,  Level  of  the  Free  Women." 
The  letter  ran: 

"Dear  Karl:  For  three  weeks  now  you  have  failed  to 
keep  your  appointments  and  sent  no  explanation.  You  surely 
know  that  I  will  not  tolerate  such  rude  neglect.  I  have  re- 
ported to  the  Supervisor  that  you  are  dropped  from  my  list." 

So  this  was  Katrina !     Here  at  last  was  the  end 
of  the  fears  that  had  haunted  me. 


As  I  was  scanning  the  chemical  journal  I  heard  a 
bell  ring  and  turning  about  I  saw  that  a  metal  box 
had  slid  forth  upon  a  side  board  from  an  opening 
in  the  wall.  In  this  box  I  found  my  dinner  which  I 
proceeded  to  enjoy  in  solitude.  The  food  was  more 
varied  than  in  the  hospital.  Some  was  liquid  and 
some  gelatinous,  and  some  firm  like  bread  or  bis- 
cuit. But  of  natural  food  products  there  was  noth- 
ing save  a  dish  of  mushrooms  and  a  single  sprig  of 


34  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

green  no  longer  than  my  finger,  and  which,  like  a 
feather  in  a  boy's  cap,  was  inserted  conspicuously  in 
the  top  of  a  synthetic  pudding.  There  was  one 
food  that  puzzled  me,  for  it  was  sausage-like  in 
form  and  sausage-like  in  flavour,  and  I  was  sure  con- 
tained some  real  substance  of  animal  origin.  Pre- 
suming, as  I  did  at  that  moment,  that  no  animal  life 
existed  in  Berlin,  I  ate  this  sausage  with  doubts  and 
misgivings. 

The  dinner  finished,  I  looked  for  a  way  to  dispose 
of  the  dishes.  Packing  them  back  in  the  container 
I  fumbled  about  and  found  a  switch  which  set 
something  going  in  the  wall,  and  my  dishes  departed 
to  the  public  dishwasher. 

Having  cleared  the  desk  I  next  turned  to  Arm- 
stadt's  book  shelves.  My  attention  was  caught  by 
a  ponderous  volume.  It  proved  to  be  an  atlas  and 
directory  of  Berlin.  In  the  front  of  this  was  a  most 
revealing  diagram  which  showed  Berlin  to  be  a  city 
of  sixty  levels.  The  five  lowest  levels  were  under- 
ground and  all  were  labelled  "  Mineral  Industries." 
Above  these  were  eight  levels  of  Food,  Cloth- 
ing and  Miscellaneous  industries.  Then  came 
the  seven  workmen's  residence  levels,  divided 
by  trade  groups.  Above  this  were  the  four 
"  Intellectual  Levels,"  on  one  of  which  I,  as  a  chem- 
ist had  my  abode.  Directly  above  these  was  the 
"  Level  of  Free  Women,"  and  above  that  the  resi- 
dence level  for  military  officers.  The  next  was  the 
"  Royal  Level,"  double  in  height  of  the  other  levels 
of    the    citv.     Then    came     the     "  Administrative 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  35 

Level,"  followed  by  eight  maternity  levels,  then  four 
levels  of  female  schools  and  nine  levels  of  male 
schools.  Then,  for  six  levels,  and  reaching  to 
within  five  levels  of  the  roof  of  the  city,  were 
soldiers'  barracks.  Three  of  the  remaining  floors 
were  labelled  "  Swine  Levels "  and  one  "  Green 
Gardens."  Just  beneath  the  roof  was  the  defence 
level  and  above  that  the  open  roof  itself. 

It  was  a  city  of  some  three  hundred  metres  in 
height  with  mineral  industries  at  the  bottom  and 
the  swine  levels  —  I  recalled  the  sausage  —  at  the 
top.  Midway  between,  remote  from  possible  at- 
tack through  mines  or  from  the  roof,  Royalty  was 
sheltered,  while  the  other  privileged  groups  of  so- 
ciety were  stratified  above  and  below  it. 

Following  the  diagram  cf  levels  was  a  most  in- 
forming chart  arranged  like  a  huge  multiplication 
table.  It  gave  after  each  level  the  words  "  per- 
mitted," "  forbidden,"  and  "  permitted  as  an- 
nounced," arranged  in  columns  for  each  of  the  other 
levels.  From  this  I  traced  out  that  as  a  chemist  I 
was  permitted  on  all  the  industrial,  workmen's  and 
intellectual  levels,  and  on  the  Level  of  Free  Women. 
I  was  permitted,  as  innounced,  on  the  Administra- 
tive and  Royal  Levels;  but  forbidden  on  the  levels 
of  military  officers  and  soldiers'  barracks,  mater- 
nity and  male  and  female  schools. 

I  found  that  as  a  chemist  I  was  particularly  fortu- 
nate for  many  other  groups  were  given  even  less 
liberty.  As  for  common  workmen  and  soldiers, 
they  were  permitted  on  no  levels  except  their  own. 


36  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

The  most  perplexing  thing  about  this  system  was 
the  apparent  segregation  of  such  large  groups  of 
men  from  women.  Family  life  in  Germany  was 
evidently  wonderfully  altered  and  seemingly  greatly 
restricted,  a  condition  inconsistent  with  the  belief 
that  I  had  always  held  —  that  the  German  race  was 
rapidly  increasing. 

Turning  to  my  atlas  index  I  looked  up  the  popu- 
lation statistics  of  the  city,  and  found  that  by  the 
last  census  it  was  near  three  hundred  million.  And 
except  for  the  few  millions  in  the  mines  this  huge 
mass  of  humanity  was  quartered  beneath  a  single 
roof.  I  was  greatly  surprised,  for  this  population 
figure  was  more  than  double  the  usual  estimates 
current  in  the  outside  world.  Coming  from  a  world 
in  which  the  ancient  tendency  to  congest  in  cities  had 
long  since  been  overcome,  I  was  staggered  by  the 
fact  that  nearly  as  many  people  were  living  in  this 
one  city  as  existed  in  the  whole  of  North  America. 

Yet,  when  I  figured  the  floor  area  of  the  city, 
which  was  roughly  oval  in  shape,  being  eight  kilo- 
metres in  breadth  and  eleven  in  length,  I  found  that 
the  population  on  a  given  floor  area  was  no  greater 
than  it  had  been  in  the  Island  of  Manhattan  before 
the  reform  land  laws  were  put  into  effect  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  Twentieth  Century.  There  was, 
therefore,  nothing  incredible  in  these  figures  of  total 
population,  but  what  I  next  discovered  was  a  sev"-e 
strain  on  credence.  It  was  the  German  population 
by  sexes;  the  figures  showed  that  there  were  nearly 
two  and  a  half  males  for  every  female!     Accord- 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  37 

ing  to  the  usual  estimate  of  war  losses  the  figure 
should  have  been  at  a  ratio  of  six  women  living  to 
about  five  men,  and  here  I  found  them  recorded 
as  only  two  women  to  five  men.  Inspection  of  the 
birth  rate  showed  an  even  higher  proportion  of 
males.  I  consulted  further  tables  that  gave  births 
by  sexes  and  groups.  These  varied  somewhat  but 
there  was  this  great  preponderance  of  males  in  every 
class  but  one.  Only  among  the  seventeen  thousand 
members  of  Royalty  did  the  proportion  of  the  sexes 
approach  the  normal. 

Apparently  I  had  found  an  explanation  of  the 
careful  segregation  of  German  women  —  there  were 
not  enough  to  go  around ! 

Turning  the  further  pages  of  my  atlas  I  came 
upon  an  elaborately  illustrated  directory  of  the  uni- 
forms and  insignia  of  the  various  military  and  civil 
ranks  and  classes.  As  I  had  already  anticipated,  I 
found  that  any  citizen  in  Berlin  could  immediately 
be  placed  in  his  proper  group  and  rank  by  his 
clothing,  which  was  prescribed  with  military  ex- 
actness. 

Various  fabrics  and  shades  indicated  the  occupa- 
tional grouping  while  trimmings  and  insignia  dis- 
tinguished the  ranks  within  the  groups.  In  all  there 
were  many  hundreds  of  distinct  uniforms.  Two 
groups  alone  proved  exceptions  to  this  iron  clad 
rule;  Royalty  and  free  women  were  permitted  to 
dress  as  they  chose  and  were  restricted  only  in  that 
they  were  forbidden  to  imitate  the  particular  uni- 
forms of  other  groups. 


38  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

I  next  investigated  the  contents  of  Armstadt's 
desk.  My  most  interesting  find  was  a  checkbook, 
with  receipts  and  expenditures  carefully  recorded 
on  the  stubs.  From  this  I  learned  that,  as  Arm- 
stadt,  I  was  in  receipt  of  an  income  of  five  thousand 
marks,  paid  by  the  Government.  I  did  not  know 
how  much  purchasing  value  that  would  amount  to, 
but  from  the  account  book  I  saw  that  the  expenses 
had  not  equalled  a  third  of  it,  which  explained  why 
there  was  a  bank  balance  of  some  twenty  thousand 
marks. 

Clearly  I  would  need  to  master  the  signature  of 
Karl  Armstadt  so  I  searched  among  the  papers  until 
I  found  a  bundle  of  returned  decks.  Many  of  the 
larger  checks  had  been  made  out  to  "  Katrina,'' 
others  to  the  "  Master  of  Games,"  —  evidently  to 
cover  gambling  losses.  The  smaller  checks,  I  found 
by  reference  to  the  stubs,  were  for  ornaments  or  en- 
tertainment that  might  please  a  woman.  The  lack 
of  the  more  ordinary  items  of  expenditure  was  pres- 
ently made  clear  by  the  discovery  of  a  number  of 
punch  marked  cards.  For  intermittent  though  nec- 
essary expenses,  such  as  tonsorial  service,  clothing 
and  books.  For  the  more  constant  necessities  of 
life,  such  as  rent,  food,  laundry  and  transportation, 
there  was  no  record  whatever;  and  I  correctly  as- 
sumed that  these  were  supplied  without  compensa- 
tion and  were  therefore  not  a  matter  of  personal 
choice  or  permissible  variation.  Of  money  in  its 
ancient  form  of  metal  coins  and  paper,  I  found  no 
evidence. 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  39 

3 
In  my  mail   the   next  morning  I    found   a   card 
signed  by  Lieut.  Forrester  of  the  hospital  staff.     It 
read : 

'  The  bearer,  Karl  Armstadt,  has  recently  suffered  from 
gas  poisoning  while  defending  tne  mines  beneath  enemy  ter- 
ritory. This  has  affected  his  memory.  If  he  is  therefore 
found  disobeying  any  ruling  or  straying  beyond  his  permitted 
bounds,  return  him  to  his  apartment  and  call  the  Hospital 
for  Complex  Gas  Cases." 

It  was  evidently  a  very  kindly  effort  to  protect  a 
man  whose  loss  of  memory  might  lead  him  into 
infractions  of  the  numerous  rulings  of  German  life. 
With  this  help  I  became  ambitious  to  try  the  streets 
of  Berlin  alone.  The  notice  from  the  tailor  af- 
forded an  excuse. 

Consulting  my  atlas  to  get  my  bearings  I  now 
ventured  forth.  The  streets  were  tunnel-like  pas- 
sage-ways closed  over  with  a  beamed  ceiling  of 
whitish  grey  concrete  studded  with  glowing  light 
globes.  In  the  residence  districts  the  smooth  side 
walls  were  broken  only  by  high  ventilating  gratings 
and  the  narrow  passage  halls  from  which  led  the 
doors  of  the  apartments. 

The  uncanny  quiet  of  the  streets  of  this  city  with 
its  three  hundred  million  inhabitants  awed  and  op- 
pressed me.  Hurriedly  I  walked  along  occasion- 
ally passing  men  dressed  like  myself.  They  were 
pale  men,  with  blanched  or  sallow  faces.  But  no- 
where were  there  faces  of  ruddy  tan  as  one  sees  in 


4o  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

a  world  of  sun.  The  men  in  the  hospital  had  been 
pale,  but  that  had  seemed  less  striking  for  one  is 
used  to  pale  faces  in  a  hospital.  It  came  to  me 
with  a  sense  of  something  lost  that  my  own  counte- 
nance blanched  in  the  mine  and  hospital  would 
so  remain  colourless  like  the  faces  of  the  men  who 
now  stole  by  me  in  their  felted  foot-wear  with  a 
cat-like  tread. 

At  a  cross  street  I  turned  and  came  upon  a  small 
group  of  shops  with  monotonous  panelled  display 
windows  inserted  in  the  concrete  walls.  Here  I 
found  my  tailor  and  going  in  I  promptly  laid  down 
his  notice  and  my  clothing  card.  He  glanced  casu- 
ally at  the  papers,  punched  the  card  and  then  looking 
up  he  remarked  that  my  new  suit  had  been  waiting 
some  time.  I  began  explaining  the  incident  in  the 
mine  and  the  stay  in  the  hospital;  but  the  tailor 
was  either  disinterested  or  did  not  comprehend. 

"Will  you  try  on  your  new  suit  now?"  he  in- 
terrupted, holding  forth  the  garments.  The  suit 
proved  a  trifle  tight  about  the  hips,  but  I  hastened 
to  assure  the  tailor  that  the  fit  was  perfect.  I  re- 
moved it  and  watched  him  do  it  up  in  a  parcel,  open 
a  wall  closet,  call  my  house  number,  and  send  my 
suit  on  its  way  through  one  of  the  numerous  carriers 
that  interlaced  the  city. 

As  I  walked  more  leisurely  back  to  my  apart- 
ment by  a  less  direct  way,  I  found  my  analytical 
brain  puzzling  over  the  refreshing  quality  of  the 
breezes  that  blew  through  those  tunnel-like  streets. 
With  bits  of  paper  I  traced  the  air  flow  from  the 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  41 

latticed  faces  of  the  elevator  shafts  to  the  ventilat- 
ing gratings  of  the  enclosed  apartments,  and  con- 
cluded that  there  must  be  other  shafts  to  the  rear 
of  the  apartments  for  its  exit.  It  occurred  to  me 
that  it  must  take  an  enormous  system  of  ventilating 
fans  to  keep  this  air  in  motion,  and  then  I  remem- 
bered the  liquid  air  engine  I  had  seen  in  the  mine, 
and  a  realization  of  the  economy  and  efficiency  of 
the  whole  scheme  dawned  upon  me.  The  Germans 
had  solved  the  power  problem  by  using  the  heat 
of  the  deeper  strata  of  the  earth  to  generate  power 
through  the  agency  of  liquid  air  and  the  exhaust 
from  their  engines  had  automatically  solved  their 
ventilating  problem.  I  recalled  with  a  smile  that 
I  had  seen  no  evidence  of  heating  apparatus  any- 
where except  that  which  the  miners  had  used  to 
warm  their  food.  In  this  city  cooling  rather  than 
heating  facilities  would  evidently  be  needed,  even 
in  the  dead  of  winter,  since  the  heat  generated  by 
the  inhabitants  and  the  industrial  processes  would 
exceed  the  radiation  from  the  exterior  walls  and 
roof  of  the  city.  Sunshine  and  "  fresh  air  "  they 
had  not,  but  our  own  scientists  had  taught  us  for 
generations  that  heat  and  humidity  and  not  lack  of 
oxygen  or  sunshine  was  the  cause  of  the  depression 
experienced  in  indoor  quarters.  The  air  of  Berlin 
was  cool  and  the  excess  of  vapor  had  been  frozen 
out  of  it.  Yes,  the  "  climate  "  of  Berlin  should  be 
more  salubrious  to  the  body,  if  not  to  the  mind, 
than  the  fickle  environment  of  capricious  nature. 
From  my  reasoning  about  these  ponderous  prob- 


42  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

lems  of  existence  I  was  diverted  to  a  trivial  matter. 
The  men  I  observed  on  the  streets  all  wore  their 
hair  clipped  short,  while  mine,  with  six  weeks' 
growth,  was  getting  rather  long.  I  had  seen  sev- 
eral barber's  signs  but  I  decided  to  walk  on  for 
quite  a  distance  beyond  my  apartment.  I  did  not 
want  to  confront  a  barber  who  had  known  Karl 
Armstadt,  for  barbers  deal  critically  in  the  matter 
of  heads  and  faces.  At  last  I  picked  out  a  shop. 
I  entered  and  asked  for  a  hair-cut. 

"  But  you  are  not  on  my  list,"  said  the  barber, 
staring  at  me  in  a  puzzled  way,  "  why  do  you  not 
go  to  your  own  barber?  " 

Grasping  the  situation  I  replied  that  I  did  not 
like  my  barber. 

1  Then  why  do  you  not  apply  at  the  Tonsorial 
Administrative  Office  of  the  level  for  permission 
to  change?  " 

Returning  to  my  apartment  I  looked  up  the  of- 
fice in  my  directory,  went  thither  and  asked  the  clerk 
if  I  could  exchange  barbers.  He  asked  for  my  card 
and  after  a  deal  of  clerical  activities  wrote  thereon 
the  name  of  a  new  barber.  With  this  official  sanc- 
tion I  finally  got  my  hair  cut  and  my  card  punched, 
thinking  meanwhile  that  the  soundness  of  my  teeth 
would  obviate  any  amateur  detective  work  on  the 
part  of  a  dentist. 

Nothing,  it  seemed,  was  left  for  the  individual  to 
decide  for  himself.  His  every  want  was  supplied 
by  orderly  arrangement  and  for  everything  he  must 
have    an   authoritative    permits     Had   I    not   been 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  43 

classed  as  a  research  chemist,  and  therefore  a  man 
of  some  importance,  this  simple  business  of  getting 
a  hair-cut  might  have  proved  my  undoing.  Indeed, 
as  I  afterwards  learned,  the  exclusive  privacy  of 
my  living  quarters  was  a  mark  of  distinction. 
Had  I  been  one  of  lower  ranking  I  should  have 
shared  my  apartment  with  another  man  who  would 
have  slept  in  my  bed  while  I  was  at  work,  for  in  the 
sunless  city  was  neither  night  nor  day  and  the  whole 
population  worked  and  slept  in  prescribed  shifts  — 
the  vast  machinery  of  industry,  like  a  blind  giant  in 
some  Plutonic  treadmill,  toiled  ceaselessly. 

The  next  morning  I  decided  to  extend  my  travels 
to  the  medical  level,  which  was  located  just  above 
my  own.  There  were  stairs  beside  the  elevator 
shafts  but  these  were  evidently  for  emergency  as 
they  were  closed  with  locked  gratings. 

The  elevator  stopped  at  my  ring.  Not  sure  of 
the  proper  manner  of  calling  my  floor  I  was  carried 
past  the  medical  level.  As  we  shot  up  through  the 
three-hundred-metre  shaft,  the  names  of  leveJs  as 
I  had  read  them  in  my  atlas  flashed  by  on  the  blind 
doors.  On  the  topmost  defence  level  we  took  on 
an  officer  of  the  roof  guard — strangely  swarthy  of 
skin  —  and  now  the  car  shot  down  while  the  rising 
air  rushed  by  us  with  a  whistling  roar. 

On  the  return  trip  I  called  my  floor  as  I  had  heard 
others  do  and  was  let  off  at  the  medical  level.  It 
was  even  more  monotonously  quiet  than  the  chemical 
level,  save  for  the  hurrying  passage  of  occasional 
ambulances  on  their  way  between  the  elevators  and 


44  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

the  various  hospitals.  The  living  quarters  of  the 
physicians  were  identical  with  those  on  the  chemists' 
level.  So,  too,  were  the  quiet  shops  from  which 
the  physicians  supplied  their  personal  needs. 

Standing  before  one  of  these  I  saw  in  a  window  a 
new  book  entitled  "  Diseases  of  Nutrition."  I  went 
in  and  asked  to  see  a  copy.  The  book  seller  staring 
at  my  chemical  uniform  in  amazement  reached 
quickly  under  the  counter  and  pressed  a  button.  I 
became  alarmed  and  turned  to  go  out  but  found  the 
door  had  been  automatically  closed  and  locked. 
Trying  to  appear  unconcerned  I  stood  idly  glancing 
over  the  book  shelves,  while  the  book  seller  watched 
me  from  the  corner  of  his  eye. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  door  opened  from  without 
and  a  man  in  the  uniform  of  the  street  guard 
appeared.     The  book  seller  motioned  toward  me. 

"  Your  identification  folder,"  said  the  guard. 

Mechanically  I  withdrew  it  and  handed  it  to  him. 
He  opened  it  and  discovered  the  card  from  the  hos- 
pital. Smiling  on  me  with  an  air  of  condescension, 
he  took  me  by  the  arm  and  led  me  forth  and  con- 
ducted me  to  my  own  apartment  on  the  chemical 
level.  Arriving  there  he  pushed  me  gently  into  a 
chair  and  stepped  toward  the  switch  of  the  tele- 
phone. 

"  Just  a  minute,"  I  said,  "  I  remember  now.  I 
was  not  on  my  level  —  that  was  not  my  book  store." 

"  The  card  orders  me  to  call  up  the  hospital," 
said  the  guard. 

"  It  is  unnecessary,"  I  said.     "  Do  not  call  them." 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  45 

The  guard  gazed  first  at  me  and  then  at  the  card. 
"  It  is  signed  by  a  Lieutenant  and  you  are  a  Cap- 
tain— "  his  brows  knitted  as  he  wrestled  with  the 
problem  — "  I  do  not  know  what  to  do.  Does  a 
Captain  with  an  affected  memory  outrank  a  Lieu- 
tenant? " 

"  He  does,"  I  solemnly  assured  him. 

Still  a  little  puzzled,  he  returned  the  card,  saluted 
and  was  gone.  It  had  been  a  narrow  escape.  I 
got  out  my  atlas  and  read  again  the  rules  that  set 
forth  my  right  to  be  at  large  in  the  city.  Clearly 
I  had  a  right  to  be  found  in  the  medical  level  —  but 
in  trying  to  buy  a  book  there  I  had  evidently  erred 
most  seriously.  So  I  carefully  memorized  the  list 
of  shops  set  down  in  my  identification  folder  and  on 
my  cards. 

For  the  next  few  days  I  lived  alone  in  my  apart- 
ment unmolested  except  by  an  occasional  visit  from 
Holknecht,  the  laboratory  assistant,  who  knew 
nothing  but  chemistry,  talked  nothing  but  chemistry, 
and  seemed  dead  to  all  human  emotions  and  human 
curiosity.  Applying  myself  diligently  to  the  study 
of  Armstadt's  books  and  notes,  I  was  delighted  to 
find  that  the  Germans,  despite  their  great  chemical 
progress,  were  ignorant  of  many  things  I  knew.  I 
saw  that  my  knowledge  discreetly  used,  might  en- 
able me  to  become  a  great  man  among  them  and 
so  learn  secrets  that  would  be  of  immense  value  to 
the  outer  world,  should  I  later  contrive  to  escape 
from  Berlin. 

By  my  discoveries  of  the  German  workings  in  the 


46  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

potash  mines  I  had  indeed  opened  a  new  road  to 
Berlin.  It  was  up  to  me  by  further  discoveries  to 
open  a  road  out  again,  not  only  for  my  own  escape, 
but  perhaps  also  to  find  a  way  by  which  the  World 
Armies  might  enter  Berlin  as  the  Greeks  entered 
Troy.  Vague  ambitious  dreams  were  these  that 
filled  and  thrilled  me,  for  I  was  young  in  years,  and 
the  romantic  spirit  of  heroic  adventure  surged  in 
my  blood. 

These  days  of  study  were  quite  uneventful,  ex- 
cept for  a  single  illuminating  incident;  a  further 
example  of  the  super-efficiency  of  the  Germans.  I 
found  the  meals  served  me  at  my  apartment  rather 
less  in  quantity  than  my  appetite  craved.  While 
there  was  a  reasonable  variety,  the  nutritive  value 
was  always  the  same  to  a  point  of  scientific  exactness, 
and  I  had  seen  no  shops  where  extra  food  was 
available.  After  I  had  been  in  my  apartment  about 
a  week,  some  one  rang  at  the  door.  I  opened  it 
and  a  man  called  out  the  single  word,  "  Weigher." 
Just  behind  him  stood  a  platform  scale  on  small 
wheels  and  with  handles  like  a  go-cart.  The 
weigher  stood,  note-book  in  hand,  waiting  for  me 
to  act.  I  took  the  hint  and  stepped  upon  the  scales. 
He  read  the  weight  and  as  he  recorded  it,  remarked: 

"  Three  kilograms  over." 

Without  further  explanation  he  pushed  the  scales 
toward  the  next  door.  The  following  day  I  noticed 
that  the  portions  of  food  served  me  were  a  trifle 
smaller  than  they  had  been  previously.  The  orig- 
inal   Karl   Armstadt   had    evidently   been    of    such 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  47 

build  that  he  carried  slightly  less  weight  than  I, 
which  fact  now  condemned  me  to  this  light  diet. 

However,  I  reasoned  that  a  light  diet  is  conducive 
to  good  brain  work,  and  as  I  later  learned,  the  object 
of  this  systematic  weight  control  was  not  alone  to 
save  food  but  to  increase  mental  efficiency,  for  a  fat 
man  is  phlegmatic  and  a  lean  one  too  excitable  for 
the  best  mental  output.  It  would  also  help  my  dis- 
guise by  keeping  me  the  exact  weight  and  build  of 
the  original  Karl  Armstadt. 

After  a  fortnight  of  study,  I  felt  that  I  was  now 
ready  to  take  up  my  work  in  the  laboratory,  but 
I  feared  my  lack  of  general  knowledge  of  the  city 
and  its  ways  might  still  betray  me.  Hence  I  began 
further  journeyings  about  the  streets  and  shops  of 
those  levels  where  a  man  of  my  class  was  permitted 
to  go. 

4 

After  exhausting  the  rather  barren  sport  of  walk- 
ing about  the  monotonous  streets  of  the  four  profes- 
sional levels  I  took  a  more  exciting  trip  down  into 
the  lower  levels  of  the  city  where  the  vast  mechani- 
cal industries  held  sway.  I  did  not  know  how  much 
freedom  might  be  allowed  me,  but  I  reasoned  that  I 
would  be  out  of  my  supposed  normal  environment 
and  hence  my  ignorance  would  be  more  excusable 
and  in  less  danger  of  betraying  me. 

Alighting  from  the  elevator,  I  hurried  along  past 
endless  rows  of  heavy  columns.  I  peered  into  the 
workrooms,  which  had  no  enclosing  walls,  and  dis- 


48  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

covered  with  some  misgiving  that  I  seemed  to  have 
come  upon  a  race  of  giants.  The  men  at  the 
machines  were  great  hulking  fellows  with  thick, 
heavy  muscles  such  as  one  would  expect  to  see  in 
a  professional  wrestler  or  weight-lifter.  I  paused 
and  tried  to  gauge  the  size  of  these  men:  I  decided 
that  they  were  not  giants  for  I  had  seen  taller  men 
in  the  outer  world.  Two  officials  of  some  sort,  dis- 
tinguishable by  finer  garb,  walking  among  them,  ap- 
peared to  be  men  of  average  size,  and  the  tops  of 
their  heads  came  about  to  the  workers'  chins.  That 
there  should  be  such  men  among  the  Germans  was 
not  unbelievable,  but  the  strange  thing  was  that 
there  should  be  so  many  of  them,  and  that  they 
should  be  so  uniformly  large,  for  there  was  not  a 
workman  in  the  whole  vast  factory  floor  that  did 
not  over-top  the  officials  by  at  least  half  a  head. 

"  Of  course,"  I  reasoned,  "  this  is  part  of  Ger- 
man efficiency  ";  —  for  the  men  were  feeding  large 
plates  through  stamping  mills  — "  they  have  selected 
all  the  large  men  for  this  heavy  work."  Then  as 
I  continued  to  gaze  it  occurred  to  me  that  this 
bright  metal  these  Samsons  were  handling  was 
aluminum ! 

I  went  on  and  came  to  a  different  work  hall 
where  men  were  tending  wire  winding  machinery, 
making  the  coils  for  some  light  electrical  instru- 
ments. It  was  work  that  girls  could  easily  have 
done,  yet  these  men  were  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as 
hulking  as  their  mates  in  the  stamping  mill.  To 
select   such   men   for   light-fingered   work   was   not 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  49 

efficiency  but  stupidity,. —  and  then  it  came  to  me 
that  I  had  also  thought  the  soldiers  I  had  seen  in 
the  hospital  to  be  men  picked  for  size,  and  that  in 
a  normal  population  there  could  not  be  such  an 
abundance  of  men  of  abnormal  size.  The  meaning 
of  it  all  began  to  clear  in  my  mind  —  the  pedigree 
in  my  own  identification  folder  with  the  numerous 
fraternity,  the  system  of  social  castes  which  my  atlas 
had  revealed,  the  inexplicable  and  unnatural  pro- 
portion of  the  sexes.  These  gigantic  men  were  not 
the  mere  pick  from  individual  variation  in  the 
species,  but  a  distinct  breed  within  a  race  wherein 
the  laws  of  nature,  that  had  kept  men  of  equal 
stature  for  countless  centuries,  even  as  wild  animals 
were  equal,  had  been  replaced  by  the  laws  of  scien- 
tific breeding.  These  heavy  and  ponderous  labour- 
ers were  the  Percherons  and  Clydesdales  of  a  domes- 
ticated and  scientifically  bred  human  species.  The 
soldiers,  somewhat  less  bulky  and  more  active,  were, 
no  doubt,  another  distinct  breed.  The  professional 
classes  which  had  seemed  quite  normal  in  physical 
appearance  —  were  they  bred  for  mental  rather 
than  physical  qualities?  Otherwise  why  the  pedi- 
gree, why  the  rigid  castes,  the  isolation  of  women? 
I  shuddered  as  the  whole  logical,  inevitable  explana- 
tion unfolded.  It  was  uncanny,  unearthly,  yet  per- 
fectly scientific;  a  thing  the  world  had  speculated 
about  for  centuries,  a  thing  that  every  school  boy 
knew  could  be  done,  and  yet  which  I,  facing  the  fact 
that  it  had  been  done,  could  only  believe  by  a 
strained  effort  at  scientific  coolness. 


So  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

I  walked  on  and  on,  absorbed,  overwhelmed  by 
these  assaulting,  unbelievable  conclusions,  yet  on 
either  side  as  I  walked  was  the  ever  present  evidence 
of  the  reality  of  these  seemingly  wild  fancies. 
There  were  miles  upon  miles  of  these  endless  work- 
rooms and  everywhere  the  same  gross  breed  of  great 
blond  beasts. 

The  endless  shops  of  Berlin's  industrial  level  were 
very  like  those  elsewhere  in  the  world,  except  that 
they  were  more  vast,  more  concentrated,  and  the 
work  more  speeded  up  by  super-machines  and  ex- 
cessive specialization.  Millions  upon  millions  of 
huge,  drab-clad,  stolid-faced  workmen  stood  at  their 
posts  of  duty,  performing  over  and  over  again  their 
routine  movements  as  the  material  of  their  labors 
shuttled  by  in  endless  streams. 

Occasionally  among  the  workmen  I  saw  the  uni- 
forms of  the  petty  officers  who  acted  as  foremen, 
and  still  more  rarely  the  administrative  offices, 
where,  enclosed  in  glass  panelled  rooms,  higher  of- 
ficials in  more  bespangled  uniforms  poured  over 
charts  and  plans. 

In  all  this  colossal  business  there  was  everywhere 
the  atmosphere  of  perfect  order,  perfect  system,  per- 
fect discipline.  Go  as  I  might  among  the  electrical 
works,  among  the  vast  factories  of  chemicals  and 
goods,  the  lighter  labor  of  the  textile  mills,  or  the 
heavier,  noisier  business  of  the  mineral  works  and 
machine  shops  the  same  system  of  colossal  co- 
ordinate mechanism  of  production  throbbed  cease- 
lessly.    Materials  flowed  in  endless  streams,  feeding 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  51 

electric  furnaces,  mills,  machines;  passing  out  to 
packing  tables  and  thence  to  vast  store  rooms.  In- 
dustry here  seemed  endless  and  perfect.  The 
bovine  humanity  fitted  to  the  machinery  as  the  ox 
to  the  treadmill.  Everywhere  was  the  ceaseless 
throbbing  of  the  machine.  Of  the  human  varia- 
tion and  the  free  action  of  man  in  labour,  there  was 
no  evidence,  and  no  opportunity  for  its  existence. 

Turning  from  the  mere  monotonous  endlessness 
of  the  workshops  I  made  my  way  to  the  levels  above 
where  the  workers  lived  in  those  hours  when  they 
ceased  to  be  a  part  of  the  industrial  mechanism  of 
production;  and  everywhere  were  drab-coloured  men 
for  these  shifts  of  labour  were  arranged  so  that  no 
space  at  any  time  was  wholly  idle.  I  now  passed 
by  miles  of  sleeping  dormitories,  and  other  miles 
of  gymnasiums,  picture  theatres  and  gaming  tables, 
and,  strikingly  incongruous  with  the  atmosphere  of 
the  place,  huge  assembly  rooms  which  were  labelled 
"  Free  Speech  Halls."  I  started  to  enter  one  of 
these,  where  some  kind  of  a  meeting  was  in  progress, 
but  I  was  thrust  back  by  a  great  fellow  who  grinned 
foolishly  and  said:  "Pardon,  Herr  Captain,  it  is 
forbidden  you." 

Through  half-darkened  streets,  I  again  passed  by 
the  bunk-shelved  sleeping  chambers  with  their  cav- 
ernous aisles  walled  with  orderly  rows  of  lockers. 
Again  I  came  to  other  barracks  where  the  men  were 
not  yet  asleep  but  were  straggling  in  and  sitting 
about  on  the  lowest  bunks  of  these  sterile  makeshift 
homes. 


52  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

I  then  came  into  a  district  of  mess  halls  where  a 
meal  was  being  served.  Here  again  was  absolute 
economy  and  perfect  system.  The  men  dined  at 
endless  tables  and  their  food  like  the  material  for 
their  labours,  was  served  to  the  workers  by  the 
highly  efficient  device  of  an  endless  moving  belt  that 
rolled  up  out  of  a  slot  in  the  floor  at  the  end  of  the 
table  after  the  manner  of  the  chained  steps  of  an 
escalator. 

From  the  moving  belts  the  men  took  their  por- 
tions, and,  as  they  finished  eating,  they  cleared  away 
by  setting  the  empty  dishes  back  upon  the  moving 
belt.  The  sight  fascinated  me,  because  of  the  adap- 
tation of  this  mechanical  principle  to  so  strange  a 
use,  for  the  principle  is  old  and,  as  every  engineer 
knows,  was  instrumental  in  founding  the  house  of 
Detroit  Vehicle  Kings  that  once  dominated  the  in- 
dustrial world.  The  founder  of  that  illustrious 
line  gave  the  poorest  citizen  a  motor  car  and  dis- 
rupted the  wage  system  of  his  day  by  paying  his 
men  double  the  standard  wage,  yet  he  failed  to  real- 
ize the  full  possibilities  of  efficiency  for  he  per- 
mitted his  men  to  eat  at  round  tables  and  be  served 
by  women !  Truly  we  of  the  free  world  very  nar- 
rowly escaped  the  fetish  of  efficiency  which  finally 
completely  enslaved  the  Germans. 

Each  of  the  long  tables  of  this  Berlin  dining  hall, 
the  ends  of  which  faced  me,  was  fenced  off  from  its 
neighbours.  At  the  entrance  gates  were  signs  which 
read  "  2600  Calories,"  "  2800  Calories,"  "  3000 
Calories  " —  I   followed  down  the  line  to  the  sign 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  53 

which  read  "  Maximum  Diet,  4000  Calories."  The 
next  one  read,  "  Minimum  Diet  2000  Calories,"  and 
thence  the  series  was  repeated.  Farther  on  I  saw 
that  men  were  assembling  before  such  gates  in  lines,, 
for  the  meal  there  had  not  begun.  Moving  to  the 
other  side  of  the  street  I  walked  by  the  lines  which 
curved  out  and  swung  down  the  street.  Those  be- 
fore the  sign  of  "  Minimum  Diet "  were  not  quite 
so  tall  as  the  average,  although  obviously  of  the 
same  breed.  But  they  were  all  gaunt,  many  of 
them  drooped  and  old,  relatively  the  inferior  speci- 
mens and  their  faces  bore  a  cowering  look  of  fear 
and  shame,  of  men  sullen  and  dull,  beaten  in  life's 
battle.  Following  down  the  line  and  noting  the  im- 
provement in  physique  as  I  passed  on,  I  came  to  the 
farthest  group  just  as  they  had  begun  to  pass  into 
the  hall.  These  men,  entering  the  gate  labelled 
"  Maximum  Diet,  4000  Calories,"  were  obviously 
the  pick  of  the  breed,  middle-aged,  powerful,  Her- 
culean,—  and  yet  not  exactly  Herculean  either,  for 
many  of  them  were  overfull  of  waistline,  men  better 
fed  than  is  absolutely  essential  to  physical  fitness. 
Evidently  a  different  principle  was  at  work  here 
than  the  strict  economy  of  food  that  required  the 
periodic  weighing  of  the  professional  classes. 

Turning  back  I  now  encountered  men  coming  out 
of  the  dining  hall  in  which  I  had  first  witnessed  the 
meal  in  progress.  I  wanted  to  ask  questions  and  yet 
was  a  little  afraid.  But  these  big  fellows  were 
seemingly  quite  respectful;  except  when  I  started  to 
enter  the  Free  Speech  Hall,  they  had  humbly  made 


54  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

way  for  me.  Emboldened  by  their  deference  I  now 
approached  a  man  whom  I  had  seen  come  out  of  a 
"  3800  Calories  "  gate,  and  who  had  crossed  the 
street  and  stood  there  picking  his  teeth  with  his  fin- 
ger nail. 

He  ceased  this  operation  as  I  approached  and  was 
about  to  step  aside.  But  I  paused  and  smiled  at 
him,  much,  I  fear,  as  one  smiles  :  t  a  dog  of  unknown 
disposition,  for  I  could  hardly  feci  that  this  ungainly 
creature  was  exactly  human.  He  smiled  back  and 
stood  waiting. 

"  Perhaps,  I  stammered,  "  you  will  tell  me  about 
your  system  of  eating;  it  seems  very  interesting." 

"  I  eat  thirty-eight,"  he  grinned,-  "  pretty  good, 
yes?  I  am  twenty-five  years  old  and  not  so  tall 
either." 

I  eyed  him  up  —  my  eyes  came  just  to  the  top 
button  of  his  jacket. 

"  I  began  thirty,"  continued  the  workman,  "  I 
came  up  one  almost  every  year,  one  year  I  came  up 
two  at  once.  Pretty  good,  yes?  One  more  to 
come." 

"  What  then?  "  I  asked. 

The  big  fellow  smiled  with  a  childish  pride,  and 
doubling  up  his  arm,  as  huge  as  an  average  man's 
thigh,  he  patted  his  biceps.  "  I  get  it  all  right.  I 
pass  examination,  no  flaws  in  me,  never  been  to 
hospital,    not   one    day.      Yes,    I    get   it." 

"Get  what?" 

"  Paternity,"  said  the  man  in  a  lower  voice,  as 
he  glanced  about  to  see  if  any  of  his  fellows  was 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  55 

listening.      "Paternity,      you      know?     Women!" 

I  thought  of  many  questions  but  feared  to  ask 
them.  The  worker  waited  for  some  men  to  pass, 
then  he  bent  over  me,  grinning  sardonically.  "  Did 
you  see  them?     You  have  seen  women,  yes?  " 

"  Yes,"  I  ventured,  "  I  have  seen  women." 

"Pretty  good,   beautiful,   yes?" 

"  Yes,"  I  stammered,  "  they  are  very  beautiful." 
But  I  was  getting  nervous  and  moved  away.  The 
workman,  hesitating  a  little,  then  followed  at  my 
side. 

"  But  tell  me,"  I  said,  "  about  these  calories. 
What  did  you  do  to  get  the  big  meals?  Why  do 
some  get  more  to  eat  than  others?" 

"  Better  man,"  he  replied  without  hesitation. 

"  But  what  makes  a  better  man?  " 

"You  don't  know;  of  course,  you  are  an  intel- 
lectual and  don't  work.  But  we  work  hard.  The 
harder  we  work  the  more  we  eat.  I  load  aluminum 
pigs  on  the  elevator.  One  pig  is  two  calories,  nine- 
teen hundred  pigs  a  day,  pretty  good,  yes?  All 
kind  of  work  has  its  calories,  so  many  for  each  thing 
to  do. 

"  More  work,  more  food  it  takes  to  do  it.  They 
say  all  is  alike,  that  no  one  can  get  fat.  But  all 
work  calories  are  not  alike  because  some  men  get 
fatter  than  others.  I  don't  get  fat;  my  work  is 
hard.  I  ought  to  get  two  and  a  half  calories  for 
each  pig  I  load.  Still  I  do  not  get  thin,  but  I  do  not 
play  hard  in  gymnasium,  see?  Those  lathe  men, 
they  got  it  too  easy  and  they  play  hard  in  gymna- 


56  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

sium.  I  don't  care  if  you  do  report.  I  got  it 
mad  at  them;  they  got  it  too  easy.  One  got  pater- 
nity last  year  already,  and  he  is  not  as  good  a 
man  as  I  am.  I  could  throw  him  over  my  shoulder 
in  wrestling.  Do  you  not  think  they  get  it  too 
easy?  " 

"  Do  the  men  like  this  system,"  I  asked;  "  the 
measuring  of  food  by  the  amount  of  work  one  does? 
Do  any  of  them  talk  about  it  and  demand  that  all 
be  fed  alike?" 

"  The  skinny  minimum  eaters  do,"  said  the 
workman  with  a  sneer,"  when  we  let  them  talk, 
which  isn't  often,  but  when  they  get  a  chance  they 
talk  Bellamism.  But  what  if  they  do  talk,  it  does 
them  no  good.  We  have  a  red  flag,  we  have  Im- 
perial Socialism;  we  have  the  House  of  Hohenzol- 
lern.  Well,  then,  I  say,  let  them  talk  if  they  want 
to,  every  man  must  eat  according  to  his  work;  that 
is  socialism.  We  can't  have  Bellamism  when  we 
have  socialism." 

This  speech,  so  much  more  informative  and 
evidencing  a  knowledge  I  had  not  anticipated,  quite 
disturbed  me.  "  You  talk  about  these  things,"  I 
ventured,  "  in  your  Free  Speech  Halls?  " 

The  hitherto  pleasant  face  of  the  workingman 
altered  to  an  ugly  frown. 

"No.  you  don't,"  he  growled,  "you  don't  think 
because  I  talk  to  you,  that  you  can  go  asking  me 
what  is  not  your  right  to  know,  even  if  you  are  an 
officer?" 

I  remained  discreetly  silent,  but  continued  to  walk 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  57 

at  the  side  of  the  striding  giant.     Presently  I  asked: 

"  What  do  you  do  now,  are  you  going  to  work?  " 

"  No,"  he  said,  looking  at  me  doubtfully,  "  that 
was  dinner,  not  breakfast.  I  am  going  now  to  the 
picture  hall." 

"  And  then,"  I  asked,  "  do  you  go  to  bed?  " 

"  No,"  he  said,  "  we  then  go  to  the  gymnasium 
or  the  gaming  tables.  Six  hours'  work,  six  hours' 
sleep,  and  four  hours  for  amusement." 

"  And  what  do  you  do,"  I  asked,  "  the  remainder 
of  the  day?  " 

He  turned  and  stared  at  me.  "  That  is  all  we 
get  here,  sixteen  hours.  This  is  the  metal  workers' 
level.  Some  levels  get  twenty  hours.  It  depends 
on  the  work." 

"  But,"  I  said,  "  a  real  day  has  twenty-four 
hours." 

"  I've  heard,"  he  said,  "  that  it  does  on  the  upper 
levels." 

"  But,"  I  protested,  "  I  mean  a  real  day  —  a  day 
of  the  sun.     Do    you  understand  that?  " 

"  Oh  yes,"  he  said,  "  we  see  the  pictures  of  the 
Place  in  the  Sun.     That's  a  fine  show." 

"  Oh,"  I  said,  "  then  you  have  pictures  of  the 
sun?" 

"  Of  course,"  he  replied,  "  the  sun  that  shines 
upon  the  throne.     We  all  see  that." 

At  the  time  I  could  not  comprehend  this  refer- 
ence, but  I  made  bold  to  ask  if  it  were  forbidden 
me  to  go  to  his  picture  hall. 

"  I  can't  make  out,"  he  said,  "  why  you  want  to 


58  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

see,  but  I  never  heard  of  any  order  forbidding  it. 

"  I  go  here,"  he  remarked,  as  we  came  to  a 
picture  theatre. 

I  let  my  Herculean  companion  enter  alone,  but 
followed  him  shortly  and  found  a  seat  in  a  secluded 
corner.      No  one  disputed  my  presence. 

The  music  that  filled  the  hall  from  some  hidden 
horn  was  loud  and,  in  a  rough  way,  jovous.  The 
pictures  —  evidently  carefully  prepared  for  such  an 
audience  —  were  limited  to  the  life  that  these  men 
knew.  The  themes  were  chiefly  of  athletic  contests, 
of  boxing,  wrestling  and  feats  of  strength.  There 
were  also  pictures  of  working  contests,  always 
ending  by  the  awarding  of  honours  by  some  much 
bespangled  official.  But  of  love  and  romance,  of 
intrigue  and  adventure,  of  pathos  and  mirth,  these 
pictures  were  strangely  devoid, —  there  was,  in  fact, 
no  woman's  likeness  cast  upon  the  screen  and  no 
pictures  depicting  emotion  or  sentiment. 

As  I  watched  the  sterile  flittings  of  the  picture 
screen  I  decided,  despite  the  glimmering  of  intelli- 
gence that  my  talking  Hercules  had  shown  in  refer- 
ence to  socialism  and  Bellamism  and  the  secrets 
of  the  Free  Speech  Halls,  that  these  men  were 
merely  great  stupid  beasts  of  burden. 

They  worked,  they  fed,  they  drank,  they  played 
exuberantly  in  their  gymnasiums  and  swimming 
pools,  they  played  long  and  eagerly  at  games  of 
chance.  Beyond  this  their  lives  were  essentially 
blank.  Ambition  and  curiosity  they  had  none  be- 
yond the   narrow  circle   of  their   round   of   living. 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  59 

But  for  all  that  they  were  docile,  contented  and, 
within  their  limitations,  not  unhappy.  To  me  they 
seemed  more  and  more  to  b  ;  like  well  cared  for 
domestic  animals,  and  I  found  myself  wondering, 
as  I  left  the  hall,  why  we  of  the  outer  world  had 
not  thought  to  produce  pictures  in  similar  vein  to 
entertain  our  dogs  and  horses. 

5 
As  I  returned  to  my  own  quarters,  I  tried  to  re- 
call the  description  I  had  read  of  the  "  Children 
of  the  Abyss,"  the  dwellers  in  ancient  city  slums. 
There  was  a  certain  kinship,  no  doubt,  between  those 
former  submerged  workers  in  the  democratic  world 
and  this  labour  breed  of  Berlin.  Yet  the  enslaved 
and  sweated  workers  of  the  old  regime  were  always 
depicted  as  suffering  from  poverty,  as  undersized, 
ill-nourished  and  afflicted  with  disease.  The  re- 
formers of  that  day  were  always  talking  of  sanitary 
housing,  scientific  diet  and  physical  efficiency.  But 
here  was  a  race  of  labourers  whose  physical  welfare 
was  as  well  taken  care  of  as  if  they  had  been  prize 
swine  or  oxen.  There  was  a  paleness  of  counte- 
nance among  these  labourers  of  Berlin  that  to  me 
seemed  suggestive  of  ill  health,  but  I  knew  that  was 
merely  due  to  lack  of  sun  and  did  not  signify  a  lack 
of  physical  vitality.  Mere  sun-darkened  skin  does 
not  mean  physiological  efficiency,  else  the  negro  were 
the  most  efficient  of  races.  Men  can  live  without 
sun,  without  rain,  without  contact  with  the  soil, 
without  nature's  greenery  and  the  brotherhood  of 


60  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

fellow  species  in  wild  b aunts.  The  whole  climb  of 
civilization  had  been  away  from  these  primitive 
things.  It  had  mere!/  been  an  artificial  perfecting 
of  the  process  of  giving  the  living  creature  that 
which  is  needed  for  sustenance  and  propagation  in 
the  most  concentrated  and  most  economical  form, 
the  elimination  of  Nature's  superfluities  and  wastes. 

As  I  thought  of  these  things  it  came  over  me 
that  this  unholy  imprisonment  of  a  race  was  but  the 
logical  culmination  of  mechanical  and  material  civ- 
ilization. This  development  among  the  Germans 
had  been  hastened  by  the  necessities  of  war  and 
siege,  yet  it  was  what  the  whole  world  had  been 
driving  toward  since  man  first  used  a  tool  and  built 
a  hut.  Our  own  freer  civilization  of  the  outer 
jforld  had  been  achieved  only  by  compromises,  by 
a  stubborn  resistance  against  the  forces  to  which  we 
ascribed  our  progress.  We  were  merely  not  so 
completely  civilized,  because  we  had  never  been 
wholly  domesticated. 

As  I  now  record  these  thoughts  on  the  true  sig- 
nificance of  the  perfected  civilization  of  the  Ger- 
mans I  realize  that  I  was  even  more  right  than  I 
then  knew,  for  the  sunless  city  of  Berlin  is  of  a  truth 
a  civilization  gone  to  seed,  its  people  are  a  domesti- 
cated species,  they  are  the  logical  outcome  of  science 
applied  to  human  affairs,  with  them  the  prodigality 
and  waste  of  Nature  have  been  eliminated,  they  have 
stamped  out  contagious  diseases  of  every  kind,  they 
have  substituted  for  the  laws  of  Nature  the  laws  that 
"man  may  pick  by  scientific  theory  and  experiment 


IN  A  BLACK  UTOPIA  61 

from  the  multitude  of  possibilities.  Yes,  the  Ger- 
mans were  civilized.  And  as  I  pondered  these 
things  I  recalled  those  fairy  tales  that  naturalists 
tell  of  the  stagnant  and  fixed  society  of  ants  in  their 
subterranean  catacombs.  These  insect  species  cred- 
ited for  industry  and  intelligence,  have  in  their  lesser 
world  reached  a  similar  perfection  of  civilization. 
Ants  have  a  royal  house,  they  have  a  highly  special- 
ized and  fixed  system  of  caste,  a  completely  social- 
ized state  —  yes,  a  Utopia  —  even  as  Berlin  was  a 
Utopia,  with  the  light  of  the  sun  and  the  light  of  the 
soul,  the  soul  of  the  wild  free  man,  forever  shut 
out.  Yes,  I  was  walking  in  Utopia,  a  nightmare  at 
the  end  of  man's  long  dream  —  Utopia  —  Black 
Utopia  —  City  of  Endless  Night  —  diabolically 
compounded  of  the  three  elements  of  civilization 
in  which  the  Germans  had  always  been  supreme  — 
imperialism,  science  and  socialism. 


CHAPTER  IV 

I  GO   PLEASURING  ON  THE   LEVEL  OF  FREE  WOMEN 
AND  DRINK  SYNTHETIC  BEER 


I  HAD  returned  from  my  adventure  on  the 
labour  levels  in  a  mood  of  sombre  depression. 
Alone  again  in  my  apartment  I  found  difficulty 
in  getting  my  mind  back  upon  chemical  books.  With 
a  sense  of  relief  I  reported  to  Holknecht  that  I 
thought  myself  sufficiently  recovered  to  return  to 
work. 

My  laboratory  I  found  to  be  almost  as  secluded 
as  my  living  quarters.  I  was  master  there,  and  as  a 
research  worker  I  reported  to  no  man  until  I  had 
finished  the  problem  assigned  me.  From  my  read- 
ings and  from  Holknecht's  endless  talking  I  had 
fairly  well  grasped  the  problem  on  which  I  was 
supposed  to  be  working,  and  I  now  had  Holknecht 
go  carefully  over  the  work  he  had  done  in  my 
absence  and  we  prepared  a  report.  This  I  sent 
to  headquarters  with  a  request  for  permission  to 
start  work  on  another  problem,  the  idea  for  which 
I  claimed  to  have  conceived  on  my  visit  to  the 
attacked  potash  mines. 

Permission  to  undertake  the  new  problem  was 
promptly  granted.     I  now  set  to  work  to.  reproduce 

62 


THE  LEVEL  OF  FREE  WOMEN      63 

in  a  German  laboratory  the  experiments  by  which  I 
had  originally  conquered  the  German  gas  that  had 
successfully  defended  those  mines  from  the  world 
for  over  a  century.  Though  loath  to  make  this 
revelation,  I  knew  of  no  other  "  Discovery  "  where- 
with to  gain  the  stakes  for  which  I  was  playing. 

Events  shaped  themselves  most  rapidly  along  the 
lines  of  my  best  hopes.  The  new  research  proved 
a  blanket  behind  which  to  hide  my  ignorance.  We 
needed  new  material,  new  apparatus,  and  new  data 
and  I  encouraged  Holknecht  to  advise  me  as  to 
where  to  obtain  these  things  and  so  gained  requisite 
working  knowledge. 

The  experiments  and  demonstrations  finished,  I 
made  my  report.  My  immediate  superior  evidently 
quickly  recognized  it  as  a  matter  too  important  for 
his  consideration  and  dutifully  passed  it  up  to  his 
own  superiors.  In  a  few  days  I  was  notified  to 
prepare  for  a  demonstration  before  a  committee  of 
the  Imperial  Chemical  Staff. 

They  came  to  my  small  laboratory  with  much 
eager  curiosity.  From  their  manner  of  making 
themselves  known  to  me  I  realized  with  joy  that 
they  were  dealing  with  a  stranger.  Indeed  it  was 
improbable  that  it  should  have  been  otherwise  for 
there  were  upwards  of  fifty  thousand  chemists  of 
my  rank  in     Berlin. 

The  demonstration  went  off  with  a  flourish  and 
the  committee  were  greatly  impressed.  Means  were 
at  once  taken  to  alter  the  gas  with  which  the  Stass- 
furt  mines  were  flooded,  but  I  realized  that  meant 


64  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

nothing  since  I  believed  that  my  companions  had 
abandoned  the  enterprise  and  the  secret  that  had 
enabled  me  to  invade  mines  had  not  been  shared 
with  any  one  in  the  outer  world. 

As  I  anticipated,  my  revelation  was  accepted  by 
the  Chemical  Staff  as  evidence  of  profound  scien- 
tific genius.  It  followed  as  a  logical  matter  that 
I  should  be  promoted  to  the  highest  rank  of  research 
chemists  with  the  title  of  Colonel.  Because  of  my 
youth  the  more  was  made  of  the  honour.  This  pro- 
motion entitled  me  to  double  my  previous  salary, 
to  a  larger  laboratory  and  larger  and  better  living 
quarters  in  a  distant  part  of  the  city. 

My  assistant  would  now  be  of  the  rank  I  had  pre- 
viously been  and  as  Holknecht  was  not  eligible  to 
such  promotion  I  was  removed  entirely  from  all 
previous  acquaintances  and  surroundings  and  so 
greatly  decreased  the  chance  of  discovery  of  my 
true  identity. 


After  I  had  removed  to  my  new  quarters  I  was  re- 
quested to  call  at  the  office  of  the  Chemical  Staff 
to  discuss  the  line  of  research  I  should  next  take  up. 
My  adviser  in  this  matter  was  the  venerable  Herr 
von  Uhl,  a  white  haired  old  patriarch  whose  jacket 
was  a  mass  of  decorations.  The  insignia  on  the  left 
breast  indicating  the  achievements  in  chemical 
science  were  already  familiar  to  me,  but  those  on 
the  right  breast  were  strange. 

Perhaps  I  stared  at  them  a  little,   for  the  old 


THE  LEVEL  OF  FREE  WOMEN      65 

man,  noting  my  interest,  remarked  proudly,  "  Yes, 
I  have  contributed  much  glory  to  the  race  and  our 
group, —  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  children, — 
one  hundred  and  four  of  them  sons,  fifty-eight  al- 
ready of  a  captain's  rank,  and  twenty-nine  of  them 
colonels  —  my  children  of  the  second  and  third 
generation  number  above  two  thousand.  Only 
three  men  living  in  Berlin  have  more  total  descend- 
ants —  and  I  am  but  seventy-eight  years  of  age.  If 
I  live  to  be  ninety  I  shall  break  all  records  of  the 
Eugenic  Office.  It  all  comes  of  good  breeding  and 
good  work.  I  won  my  paternity  right,  when  I  was 
but  twenty-eight,  just  about  your  age.  If  you  pass 
the  physical  test,  perhaps  you  can  duplicate  my 
record.  For  this  early  promotion  you  have  won 
qualifies  you  mentally." 

Astonished  and  alarmed  beyond  measure  I  could 
find  no  reply  and  sat  staring  dumbly,  while  Herr 
von  Uhl,  beginning  to  speak  of  chemical  matters, 
inquired  if  I  had  any  preference  as  to  the  problem  I 
should  now  take  up.  Incapable  of  any  clear  think- 
ing I  could  only  ask  if  he  had  any  to  suggest. 

Immediately  the  old  man's  face  brightened.  "  A 
man  of  your  genius,"  he  said,  "  should  be  permitted 
to  try  his  brain  with  the  greatest  problems  on  which 
the  life  of  Germany  depends.  The  Staff  discussed 
this  and  has  assigned  you  to  original  research  for 
the  finding  of  a  better  method  of  the  extraction  of 
protium  from  the  ore.  To  work  on  this  assignment 
you  must  of  necessity  share  grave  secrets,  which, 
should   they  be   disclosed,   might   create   profound 


66  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

fears,  but  your  professional  honour  is  a  sufficient 
guarantee  of  secrecy.  In  this  research  you  will 
compete  with  some  of  the  most  distinguished  chem- 
ists in  Berlin.  If  you  should  be  successful  you  will 
be  decorated  by  His  Majesty  and  you  will  receive 
a  liberal  pension  commensurate  with  the  value  of 
your  discovery." 

I  was  profoundly  impressed.  Evidently  I  had 
stumbled  upon  something  of  vital  importance,  the 
real  nature  of  which  I  did  not  in  the  least  compre- 
hend, and  happily  was  not  supposed  to.  The  inter- 
view was  ended  by  my  being  entrusted  with  volum- 
inous unpublished  documents  which  I  was  told  to 
take  home  and  study.  Two  armed  men  were  or- 
dered to  accompany  me  and  to  stand  alternate 
guard  outside  my  apartment  while  I  had  the  docu- 
ments in  my  possession. 

3 

In  the  quiet  of  my  new  abode  I  unsealed  the 
package.  The  first  sheet  contained  the  official  of- 
fer of  the  rewards  in  store  for  success  with  the  re- 
search. The  further  papers  explained  the  occa- 
sion for  the  gravity  and  secrecy,  and  outlined  the 
problem. 

The  colossal  consequence  of  the  matter  with 
which  I  was  dealing  gripped  and  thrilled  me.  Pro- 
tium,  it  seemed,  was  the  German  name  for  a  rare 
element  of  the  radium  group,  which,  from  its  atomic 
weight  and  other  properties,  I  recognized  as  being 


THE  LEVEL  OF  FREE  WOMEN      67 

known  to  the  outside  world  only  as  a  laboratory 
curiosity  of  no  industrial  significance. 

But,  as  used  by  the  Germans,  this  element  was  the 
essence  of  life  itself,  for  by  the  influence  of  its  eman- 
ations, they  had  achieved  the  synthesis  of  protein 
capable  of  completely  nourishing  the  human  body 
—  a  thing  that  could  be  accomplished  in  the  outside 
world  only  through  the  aid  of  natural  protein  de- 
rived from  plants  and  animals. 

How  I  wished,  as  I  read,  that  my  uncle  could 
have  shared  with  me  this  revelation  of  a  secret  that 
he  had  spent  his  life  in  a  fruitless  effort  to  unravel. 
We  had  long  since  discovered  how  the  Germans 
had  synthesized  the  carbohydrate  molecule  from 
carbon  dioxide  and  water  and  built  therefrom  the 
sugars,  starches  and  fat  needed  for  human  nutri- 
tion. We  knew  quite  as  well  how  they  had  created 
the  simpler  nitrogen  compounds,  that  this  last  step 
of  synthesizing  complete  food  proteins  —  a  step 
absolutely  essential  to  the  support  of  human  life 
wholly  from  synthetic  foods  —  the  chemists  of  the 
outer  world  had  never  mastered. 

But  no  less  interesting  than  the  mere  chemistry 
of  all  this  was  the  history  of  it  all,  and  the  light 
it  threw  on  the  larger  story  of  how  Germany  had 
survived  when  the  scientists  of  the  world  had  pre- 
dicted her  speedy  annihiliation.  The  original  use 
of  protium  had,  I  found,  been  discovered  late  in  the 
Twentieth  Century  when  the  protium  ores  of  the 
Ural  Mountains  were  still  available  to  the  German 


68  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

chemists.  After  Russia  had  been  won  by  the  World 
Armies,  the  Germans  for  a  time  suffered  chronic 
nitrogen  starvation,  as  they  depended  on  the  pro- 
tium  derived  from  what  remained  of  their  agricul- 
ture and  from  the  fisheries  in  the  Baltic.  As  the 
increasing  bombardment  from  the  air  herded  them 
within  their  fast  building  armoured  city,  and  drove 
them  beneath  the  soil  in  all  other  German  territory 
and  from  the  surface  of  tL°  sea  in  the  Baltic;  they 
must  have  perished  miserably  but  for  the  discovery 
of  a  new  source  of  protium. 

This  source  they  had  found  in  the  uninhabited 
islands  of  the  Arctic,  where  the  formation  of  the 
Ural  Mountains  extends  beneath  the  sea.  Sending 
their  submarines  thence  in  search  of  platinum  ores 
they  had  not  found  platinum  but  a  limited  supply 
of  ore  containing  the  even  more  valuable  pro- 
tium. By  this  traffic  Germany  had  survived  for  a 
century  and  a  half.  The  quantity  of  the  rare  ele- 
ment needed  was  small,  for  its  effect,  like  that  of 
radium,  was  out  of  all  proportion  to  its  bulk.  But 
this  little  they  must  have,  and  it  seems  that  the  sup- 
ply of  ore  was  failing. 

Nor  was  that  all  to  interest  me.  How  did  the 
German  submarine  get  to  the  Arctic  since  the  World 
State  had  succeeded,  after  half  a  century  of  effort, 
in  damming  the  Baltic  by  closing  up  several  passes 
among  the  Danish  Islands  and  the  main  pass  of 
the  sound  between  Zealand  and  Sweden?  I  remem- 
ber, as  a  youngster,  the  great  Jubilee  that  celebrated 
the  completion  of  that  monumental  task,  and  the 


THE  LEVEL  OF  FREE  WOMEN      69 

joy  that  hailed  from  the  announcement  that  the 
world's  shipping  would  at  last  be  freed  from  an 
ancient  scourge. 

But  little  had  we  of  the  world  known  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  German  fears  as  the  Baltic  dam  neared 
completion.  We  had  thought  merely  to  protect 
our  commerce  from  German  piracy  and  perhaps  to 
stop  them  from  getting  a  little  copper  and  rubber 
in  some  remote  corner  of  the  earth.  But  we  did  not 
realize  that  we  were  about  to  cut  them  off  from  an 
essential  element  without  which  that  conceited  and 
defiant  race  must  have  speedily  run  up  the  white 
flag  of  absolute  surrender  or  have  died  to  the  last 
man,  like  rats  in  a  neglected  trap. 

But  the  completion  of  the  Baltic  dam  evidently 
had  not  shut  off  the  supply  of  Arctic  ore,  for  the  an- 
nual importation  of  ore  was  given  right  up  to  date 
though  the  Baltic  had  been  closed  for  nearly  a 
score  of  years.  Eagerly  I  searched  my  papers  for 
an  item  that  would  give  some  hint  as  to  how  the  sub- 
marines got  out  of  the  dammed-up  Baltic.  But  on 
that  point  the  documents  before  me  were  silent. 
They  referred  to  the  Arctic  ore,  gave  elaborate 
details  as  to  mineralogy  and  geology  of  the  strata 
from  which  it  came,  but  as  to  the  ways  of  its  coming 
into  Berlin  there  was  not  the  slightest  suggestion. 
That  this  ore  must  come  by  submarine  was  obvious. 
If  so,  the  submarine  must  be  at  large  in  the  Atlantic 
and  Arctic  seas,  and  those  occasional  reports  of 
periscopes  sighted  off  the  coast  of  Norway,  which 
have  never  been  credited,  were  really  true.     The 


70  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

submarines,  or  at  least  their  cargoes,  must  reach 
Berlin  by  some  secret  passage.  Here  indeed  was  a 
master  mystery,  a  secret  which,  could  I  unravel  it 
and  escape  to  the  outer  world  with  the  knowledge, 
would  put  unconditionally  within  the  power  of  the 
World  State  the  very  life  of  the  three  hundred  mil- 
lions of  this  unholy  race  that  was  bred  and  fed  by 
science  in  the  armoured  City  of  Berlin,  or  that,  work- 
ing like  blind  moles  of  the  earth,  held  the  world  at 
bay  from  off  the  sterile  and  pock-marked  soil  of  all 
that  was  left  of  the  one-time  German  Empire. 

That  night  I  did  not  sleep  till  near  the  waking 
hour,  and  when  the  breakfast  container  bumped  into 
the  receiving  cupboard  I  was  nodding  over  the  chem- 
ical papers  amid  strange  and  wonderful  dreams. 

4 

Next  day  with  three  assistants,  themselves  chem- 
ists of  no  mean  rank,  I  set  to  work  to  prepare  ap- 
paratus for  repeating  all  the  known  processes  in 
the  extraction  and  use  of  the  rare  and  vital  element. 
This  work  absorbed  me  for  many  weeks,  during 
which  time  I  went  nowhere  and  saw  no  one  and  slept 
scarce  one  hour  out  of  four. 

But  the  steady  application  told  upon  me,  and,  by 
way  of  recreation,  I  decided  to  spend  an  evening 
on  the  Level  of  Free  Women,  a  place  to  which,  much 
though  it  fascinated  me,  I  had  not  yet  mustered  the 
courage  to  go. 

My  impression,  as  I  stepped  from  the  elevator, 
was  much  as  that  of  a  man  who  alights  from  a  train 


THE  LEVEL  OF  FREE  WOMEN      71 

In  a  strange  city  on  a  carnival  night.  Before  me,  in- 
stead of  the  narrow,  quiet  streets  of  the  working 
and  living  quarters  of  the  city,  there  spread  a  broad 
and  seemingly  endless  hall  of  revelry,  broken  only 
by  the  massive  grey  pillars  that  held  up  the  multi- 
floored  city.  The  place  was  thronged  with  men  of 
varied  ranks  and  professions.  But  more  numerous 
and  conspicuous  were  the  women,  the  first  and  only 
women  that  I  had  seen  among  the  Germans  —  the 
Free  Women  of  Berlin,  dressed  in  gorgeous  and  dar- 
ing costumes;  women  of  whom  but  few  were  beauti- 
ful, yet  in  whose  tinted  cheeks  and  sparkling  eyes 
was  all  the  lure  of  parasitic  love. 

The  multi-hued  apparel  of  the  throng  dazzled  and 
astonished  me.  Elsewhere  I  had  found  a  sterile 
monotony  of  dress  and  even  of  stature  and  features. 
But  here  was  resplendent  variety  and  display.  Men 
from  all  the  professional  and  military  classes  min- 
gled indiscriminately,  their  divers  uniforms  and  dec- 
orations suggesting  a  dress  ball  in  the  capital  of  the 
world.  But  the  motley  costumes  of  the  women,  who 
dressed  with  the  license  of  unrestrained  individuality, 
were  even  more  startling  and  bizarre  —  a  kaleido- 
scopic fantastic  masquerade. 

I  wondered  if  the  rule  of  convention  and  tyranny 
of  style  had  lost  all  hold  upon  these  women.  And 
yet  I  decided,  as  I  watched  more  closely,  that  there 
was  not  an  absence  of  style  but  rather  a  warfare 
of  styles.  The  costumes  varied  from  the  veiled  and 
beruffled  displays,  that  left  one  confounded  as  to 
what  manner  of  creature  dwelt  therein,  to  the  other 


72  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

extreme  of  mere  gaudily  ornamented  nudity.  I 
smiled  as  I  recalled  the  world-old  argument  on  the 
relative  modesty  of  much  or  little  clothing,  for  here 
immodesty  was  competing  side  by  side  in  both  ex- 
tremes, both  seemingly  equally  successful. 

But  it  was  not  alone  in  the  matter  of  dress  that 
the  women  of  the  Free  Level  varied.  They  differed 
even  more  strikingly  in  form  and  feature,  for,  as  I 
was  later  more  fully  to  comprehend,  these  women 
were  drawn  from  all  the  artificially  specialized 
breeds  into  which  German  science  had  wrought  the 
human  species.  Most  striking  and  most  numerous 
were  those  whom  I  rightly  guessed  to  be  of  the  la- 
bour strain.  Proportionally  not  quite  so  large  as 
the  males  of  the  breed,  yet  they  were  huge,  full- 
formed,  fleshly  creatures,  with  milky  white  skin  for 
the  most  part  crudely  painted  with  splashes  of  ver- 
milion and  with  blued  or  blackened  brows.  The 
garishness  of  their  dress  and  ornament  clearly  be- 
spoke the  poorer  quality  of  their  intellect,  yet  to  my 
disgust  they  seemed  fully  as  popular  with  the  men 
as  the  smaller  and  more  refined  types,  evidently  from 
the  intellectual  strains  of  the  race. 

Happily  these  ungainly  women  of  the  labour 
strain  were  inclined  to  herd  by  themselves  and  I 
hastened  to  direct  my  steps  to  avoid  as  much  as 
possible  their  overwhelming  presence. 

The  smaller  women,  who  seemed  to  be  more 
nearly  human,  were  even  more  variegated  in  their 
features  and  make-up.  They  were  not  all  blondes, 
for  some  of  them  were  distinctively  dark  of  hair  and 


THE  LEVEL  OF  FREE  WOMEN      73 

skin,  though  I  was  puzzled  to  tell  how  much  of  this 
was  inborn  and  how  much  the  work  of  art.  An- 
other thing  that  astonished  me  was  the  wide  range 
of  bodily  form,  as  evidently  determined  by  nutrition. 
Clearly  there  was  no  weight-control  here,  for  the 
figures  varied  from  extreme  slenderness  to  waddling 
fatness.  The  most  common  type  was  that  of  mild 
obesity  which  men  call  "  plumpness,"  a  quality  so 
prized  since  the  world  began  that  the  women  of  all 
races  by  natural  selection  become  relatively  fatter 
than  men. 

For  the  most  part  I  found  these  women  unat- 
tractive and  even  repellent,  and  yet  as  I  walked 
about  the  level  I  occasionally  caught  fleeting  glimpses 
of  genuine  beauty  of  face  and  form,  and  more  rarely 
expressions  of  a  seeming  high  order  of  intelligence. 

This  revelling  multitude  of  men  and  girls  was  up- 
roariously engaged  in  the  obvious  business  of  enjoy- 
ing themselves  by  means  of  every  art  known  to  ap- 
peal to  the  mind  of  man  —  when  intelligence  is 
abandoned  and  moral  restraint  thrown  to  the  winds. 

I  wended  my  way  among  the  multitude,  gay  with 
colour,  noisy  with  chatter  and  mingled  music,  redo- 
lent with  a  hundred  varieties  of  sensuous  perfume. 
I  came  upon  a  dancing  floor.  Whirling  and  twisting 
about  the  columns,  circling  around  a  gorgeous 
scented  and  iridescent  fountain,  officers  and  scientists, 
chemists  and  physicians,  each  clasping  in  his  arms 
a  laughing  girl,  danced  with  abandon  to  languorous 
music. 

As  I  watched  the  dance  I  overheard  two  girls 


74  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

commenting  upon  the  appearance  of  the  dancers. 
Whirling  by  in  the  arms  of  a  be-medalled  officer, 
was  a  girl  whose  frizzled  yellow  hair  fell  about  a 
dun-brown  face. 

"  Did  you  see  that,  Fedora,  tanned  as  a  roof 
guard  and  with  that  hair!  " 

"  Well,  you  know,"  said  the  other,  "  it's  becom- 
ing quite  the  fashion  again." 

"  Why  don't  you  try  it?  Three  baths  would  tan 
you  adorably  and  you  do  have  the  proper  hair." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  have  the  hair,  all  right,  but  my  skin 
won't  stand  it.  I  tried  it  three  years  ago  and  I 
blistered  outrageously." 

The  talk  drifted  to  less  informing  topics  and  I 
moved  on  and  came  to  other  groups  lounging  at  their 
ease  on  rugs  and  divans  as  they  watched  more  skil- 
ful girls  squirming  through  some  intricate  ballet  on 
an  exhibition  platform. 

Seeing  me  stand  apart,  a  milk-white  girl  with  hair 
dyed  pink  came  tugging  at  my  arm.  Her  opalescent 
eyes  looked  from  out  her  chalky  countenance;  but 
they  were  not  hard  eyes,  indeed  they  seemed  the  eyes 
of  innocence.  As  I  shook  my  head  and  rebuffed 
her  cordial  advance  I  felt,  not  that  I  was  refusing 
the  proffered  love  of  a  painted  woman,  but  rather 
that  I  was  meanly  declining  a  child's  invitation  to 
join  her  play.  In  haste  I  edged  away  and  wandered 
on  past  endless  gaming  tables  where  men  in  feverish 
eagerness  whirled  wheels  of  chance,  while  garishly 
dressed  girls  leaned  on  their  shoulders  and  hung 
about  their  necks. 


THE  LEVEL  OF  FREE  WOMEN      75 

Announced  by  shouts  and  shrieking  laughter  I 
came  upon  a  noisy  jumble  of  mechanical  amusement 
devices  where  men  and  girls  in  whirling  upholstered 
boxes  were  being  pitched  and  tumbled  about. 

Beyond  the  noise  of  the  childish  whirligigs  I  came 
into   a   space   where   the   white   ceiling  lights  were 
dimmed  by  crimson  globes  and  picture  screens  were 
in  operation.     It  did  not  take  long  for  me  to  grasp 
the  essential  difference  between  these  pictured  stories 
and  those  I  had  seen  in  the  workmen's  level.     There 
love  of  woman  was  entirely  absent  from  the  screen. 
Here  it  was  the  sole  substance  of  the  pictures.     But 
unlike  the  love  romances  of  the  outer  world,  there 
were  no  engagement  rings,  no  wedding  bells,  and 
never  once  did  the  face  or  form  of  a  child  appear. 
In  seating  myself  to  see  the  pictures  I  had  care- 
fully chosen  a  place  where  there  was  only  room  for 
myself  between  a  man  and  one  of  the  supporting 
columns.     At   an   interlude   the   man   arose   to   go. 
The  girl  who  had  been  with  him  arose  also,  but  he 
pushed  her  back  upon  the  bench,  saying  that  he  had 
other  engagements,  and  did  not  wish  her  company. 
The  moment  he  was  gone  the  girl  moved  over  and 
proceeded  to  crowd  caressingly  against  my  shoulder. 
She  was  a  huge  girl,  obviously  of  the  labour  strain. 
She  leaned  over  me  as  if  I  had  been  a  lonely  child 
and  she  a  lonelier  woman.     Crowded  against  the 
pillar  I  could  not  escape  and  so  tried  to  appear  un- 
concerned. 

"  Did  you  like  that  story?  "  I  asked,  referring  to 
the  picture  that  had  just  ended. 


76  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

"  No,"  she  replied,  "  the  girl  was  too  timid.  She 
could  never  have  won  a  roof  guard  captain  in  that 
fashion.  They  are  very  difficult  men,  those  roof 
guard  officers." 

"And  what  kind  of  pictures  do  you  prefer?"  I 
asked. 

"  Quartettes,"  she  answered  promptly.  "  Two 
men  and  two  girls  when  both  girls  want  the  other 
man,  and  both  men  want  the  girl  they  have.  That 
makes  a  jolly  plot.  Or  else  the  ones  where  there 
are  two  perfect  lovers  and  the  man  is  elected  to  pa- 
ternity and  leaves  her.  I  had  a  man  like  that  once 
and  it  makes  me  sad  to  see  such  a  picture." 

"  Perhaps,"  I  said,  speaking  in  a  timorous  voice, 
"  you  wanted  to  go  with  him  and  be  the  mother  of 
his  children?  " 

She  turned  her  face  toward  me  in  the  dim  light. 
"  He  talked  like  that,"  she  said,  "  and  then,  I  hated 
him.  I  knew  then  that  he  wanted  to  go  and  leave 
me.  That  he  hadn't  tried  to  avoid  the  paternity 
draft.  Yes,  he  wanted  to  sire  children.  And  he 
knew  that  he  would  have  to  leave  me.  And  so  I 
hated  him  for  ever  loving  me." 

A  strange  thrill  crept  over  me  at  the  girl's  words. 
I  tried  to  fathom  her  nature,  to  separate  the  tangle 
of  reality  from  the  artificial  ideas  ingrained  by  de- 
liberate mis-education.  "  Did  you  ever  see  chil- 
dren? Here,  I  mean.  Pictures  of  them,  perhaps, 
on  the  screen?  " 

"  Never,"  said  the  girl,  drawing  away  from  me 
and  straightening  up  till  my  head  scarce  reached  her 


THE  LEVEL  OF  FREE  WOMEN      77 

shoulder.  "  And  I  never  want  to.  I  hate  the 
thought  of  them.  I  wish  I  never  had  been  one. 
Why  can't  we  —  forget  them  ?  " 

I  did  not  answer,  and  the  labour  girl,  who,  for 
some  technical  flaw  in  her  physique  had  been  re- 
jected for  motherhood,  arose  and  walked  ponder- 
ously away. 

After  this  baffling  revelation  of  the  struggle  of 
human  souls  caught  in  the  maw  of  machine-made 
science,  I  found  the  picture  screen  a  dull  dead  thing, 
and  I  left  the  hall  and  wandered  for  miles,  it  seemed, 
past  endless  confusion  of  meaningless  revelry. 
Everywhere  was  music  and  gaming  and  laughter. 
Men  and  girls  lounged  and  danced,  or  spun  the 
wheels  of  fortune  or  sat  at  tables  drinking  from 
massive  steins,  a  highly  flavoured  variety  of  rather 
ineffectual  synthetic  beer.  Older  women  served  and 
waited  on  the  men  and  girls,  and  for  every  man  was 
at  least  one  girl  and  sometimes  as  many  as  could 
crowd  about  him.  And  so  they  sang,  and  banged 
their  mugs  and  sloshed  their  frothy  beverage. 

A  lonely  stranger  amidst  the  jostling  throngs,  I 
wandered  on  through  the  carnival  of  Berlin's  Level 
of  Free  Women.  Despite  my  longing  for  human 
companionship  I  found  it  difficult  to  join  in  this 
strange  recrudescent  paganism  with  any  ease  or 
grace. 

Girls,  alone  or  in  groups,  fluttered  about  me  with 
many  a  covert  or  open  invitation  to  join  in  their 
merry-making,  but  something  in  my  halting  manner 
and  constrained  speech  seemed  to  repulse  them,  for 


78  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

they  would  soon  turn  away  as  if  condemning  me  as 
a  man  without  appreciation  of  the  value  of  human 
enjoyment. 

My  constraint  and  embarrassment  were  increased 
by  a  certain  sense  of  guilt,  a  feeling  which  no  one 
in  this  vast  throng,  either  man  or  woman,  seemed 
to  share.  The  place  had  its  own  standard  of  ethics, 
and  they  were  shocking  enough  to  a  man  nurtured 
in  a  human  society  founded  on  the  sanctification  of 
monogamous  marriage.  But  merely  to  condemn  this 
recreational  life  of  Germany,  by  likening  it  to  the 
licentious  freedom  that  exists  in  occasional  unre- 
strained amusement  places  in  the  outer  world,  would 
be  to  give  a  very  incorrect  interpretation  of  Berlin's 
Level  of  Free  Women.  As  we  know  such  places 
elsewhere  in  the  world  there  is  always  about  them 
some  tacit  confession  of  moral  delinquency,  some 
pretence  of  apology  on  the  part  of  the  participants. 
The  women  who  so  revel  in  the  outer  world  con- 
sider themselves  under  a  ban  of  social  disapproval, 
while  the  men  are  either  of  a  type  who  have  no  sense 
of  moral  restraint  or  men  who  have  for  the  time 
abandoned  it. 

But  for  this  life  in  Berlin  no  guilt  was  felt,  no 
apology  offered.  The  men  considered  it  as  quite 
a  normal  and  proper  part  of  their  life,  while  the 
women  looked  upon  it  as  their  whole  life,  to  which 
they  had  been  trained  and  educated  and  set  apart 
by  the  Government;  they  accepted  the  role  quite  as 
did  the  scientist,  labourer,  soldier,  or  professional 


THE  LEVEL  OF  FREE  WOMEN      79 

mother.  The  state  had  decreed  it  to  be.  They 
did  not  question  its  morality.  Hence  the  life  here 
was  licentious  and  yet  unashamed,  much,  as  I  fancy 
was  the  life  in  the  groves  of  Athens  or  the  baths  of 
ancient  Rome. 


CHAPTER  V 

I  AM  DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY  AND  MAKE  EXTRAOR- 
DINARY PETITION  TO  THE  CHIEF  OF  THE 
EUGENIC    STAFF 


MY  research  was  progressing  nicely  and  I 
had  discovered  that  in  this  field  of  chem- 
istry also  my  knowledge  of  the  outer 
world  would  give  me  tremendous  advantages  over 
all  competitors.  Eagerly  I  worked  at  the  labora- 
tory, spending  most  of  my  evenings  in  study.  Occa- 
sionally I  attended  the  educational  pictures  or  dined 
on  the  Level  of  Free  Women  with  my  chemical  asso- 
ciates and  spent  an  hour  or  so  at  dancing  or  at  cards. 
My  life  had  settled  into  routine  unbroken  by  ad- 
venture. Then  I  received  a  notice  to  report  for 
the  annual  examination  at  the  Physical  Efficiency 
Laboratory.  I  went  with  some  misgivings,  but  the 
ordeal  proved  uneventful.  A  week  later  I  received 
a  most  disturbing  communication,  a  bulky  and  offi- 
cial looking  packet  bearing  the  imprint  of  the  Eu- 
genic Office.  I  nervously  slit  the  envelope  and  drew 
forth  a  letter: 

"  You  are  hereby  notified  that  you  have  reached  a  stage  of 
advancement  in  your  professional  work  that  marks  you  a  man 

80 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY  81 

of  superior  gifts,  and,  having  been  reported  as  physically  per- 
fect you  are  hereby  honoured  with  the  high  privilege  and 
sacred  duties  of  election  to  paternity.  Full  instructions  for 
your  conduct  in  this  duty  to  the  State  will  be  found  in  the 
enclosed  folder." 

In  nervous  haste  I  scanned  the  printed  folder: 

"  Your  first  duty  will  be  to  visit  the  boys'  school  for 
which  passport  is  here  enclosed.  The  purpose  of  this  is  to 
awaken  the  paternal  instincts  that  you  may  better  appre- 
ciate and  feel  the  holy  obligation  and  privilege  conferred 
upon  you.  You  will  also  find  enclosed  cards  of  introduction 
to  three  women  whom  the  Eugenic  Office  finds  to  be  fitted 
as  mothers  of  your  children.  That  natural  selection  may 
have  a  limited  play  you  are  permitted  to  select  only  one 
woman  from  each  three  assigned.  Such  selection  must  be 
made  and  reported  within  thirty  days,  after  which  a  second 
trio  will  be  assigned  you.  Until  such  final  selection  has  been 
recorded  you  are  expressly  forbidden  to  conduct  yourself  to- 
ward these  women  in  an  amorous  manner." 

Next  followed  a  set  of  exacting  rules  for  the 
proper  deportment,  in  the  carrying  out  of  these  du- 
ties to  which  the  State  had  assigned  me. 

A  crushing  sense  of  revulsion,  a  feeling  of  loath- 
ing and  uncleanliness  overwhelmed  me  as  I  pushed 
aside  the  papers.  Coming  from  a  world  where  the 
right  of  the  individual  to  freedom  and  privacy  in 
the  matrimonial  and  paternal  relations  was  recog- 
nized as  a  fundamental  right  of  man,  I  found  this 
officious  communication,  with  its  detailed  instruction, 
appalling  and  revolting. 


82  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

A  man  cravenly  clings  to  life  and  yet  there  are  in- 
stincts in  his  soul  which  will  cause  him  to  sell  life 
defiantly  for  a  mere  conception  of  a  moral  principle. 
To  become  by  official  mandate  a  father  of  a  numer- 
ous German  progeny  was  a  thing  to  which  I  could 
not  and  would  not  submit.  Many  times  that  day  as 
I  automatically  pursued  my  work,  I  resolved  to  go 
to  some  one  in  authority  and  give  myself  up  to  be 
sent  to  the  mines  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  or  more  likely 
to  be  executed  as  a  spy.  Cold  reason  showed  me 
the  futility  of  neglecting  or  attempting  to  avoid  an 
assigned  duty.  It  was  a  military  civilization  and 
I  had  already  seen  enough  of  this  ordered  life  of 
Berlin  to  know  that  there  was  no  middle  ground  of 
choice  between  explicit  obedience  and  open  rebellion. 
Nor  need  I  concern  myself  with  what  punishment 
might  be  provided  for  this  particular  disobedience 
for  I  saw  that  rebellion  for  me  would  mean  an  in- 
vestigation that  would  result  in  complete  tearing 
away  of  the  protecting  mask  of  my  German  identity. 

But  after  my  first  tumultuous  feeling  subsided  I 
realized  that  something  more  than  my  own  life  was 
at  stake.  Already  possessed  of  much  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  life  within  Berlin  I  believed  that 
I  was  in  a  way  to  come  into  possession  of  secrets  of 
vast  and  vital  importance  to  the  world.  To  gain 
these  secrets,  to  escape  from  the  walls  of  Berlin, 
was  a  more  than  personal  ambition;  it  was  an  ambi- 
tion for  mankind. 

After  a  day  or  two  of  deliberation  I  therefore  de- 
cided  against    any   rash    rebellion.      Moreover,    as 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY         83 

nothing  compromising  was  immediately  required  of 
me,  I  detached  and  mailed  the  four  coupons  pro- 
vided, having  duly  filled  in  the  time  at  which  I  should 
make  the  preliminary  calls. 


On  the  day  and  hour  appointed  I  presented  the 
school  card  to  the  elevator  operator,  who  punched 
it  after  the  manner  of  his  kind,  and  duly  deposited 
me  on  the  level  of  schools  for  boys  of  the  profes- 
sional groups.  A  lad  of  about  sixteen  met  me  at 
the  elevator  and  conducted  me  to  the  school  desig- 
nated. 

The  master  greeted  me  with  obsequious  gravity, 
and  waved  me  to  the  visitor's  seat  on  a  raised  plat- 
form. "  You  will  be  asked  to  speak,"  he  said,  "  and 
I  beg  that  you  will  tell  the  boys  of  the  wonderful 
chemical  discoveries  that  won  you  the  honours  of 
election  to  paternity." 

"  But,"  I  protested,  as  I  glanced  at  the  boys  who 
were  being  put  through  their  morning  drill  in  the 
gymnasium,  "  I  fear  the  boys  of  such  age  will  not 
comprehend  the  nature  of  my  work." 

"  Certainly  not,"  he  replied,  "  and  I  would  rather 
you  did  not  try  to  simplify  it  for  their  undeveloped 
minds,  merely  speak  learnedly  of  your  work  as  if 
you  were  addressing  a  body  of  your  colleagues.  The 
less  the  boys  understand  of  it  the  more  they  will  be 
impressed  with  its  importance,  and  the  more  ambit 
tious  they  will  be  to  become  great  chemists." 

This  strange  philosophy  of  education  annoyed  me, 


84  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

but  I  did  not  have  time  to  argue  further  for  the  bell 
had  rung  and  the  boys  were  filing  in  with  strict 
military  precision.  There  were  about  fifty  of  them, 
all  in  their  twelfth  year,  and  of  remarkable  uni- 
formity in  size  and  development.  The  blanched 
skin,  which  marked  the  adult  faces  of  Berlin,  was, 
in  the  pasty  countenance  of  those  German  boys,  a 
more  horrifying  spectacle.  Yet  they  stood  erect 
and,  despite  their  lack  of  colour,  were  evidently  a 
well  nourished,  well  exercised  group  of  youngsters. 

As  the  last  boy  reached  his  place  the  master  mo- 
tioned with  his  hand  and  fifty  arms  moved  in  unison 
in  a  mechanical  salute. 

"  We  have  with  us  this  morning,"  said  the  mas- 
ter, "  a  chemist  who  has  won  the  honours  of  pa- 
ternity with  his  original  thought.  He  will  tell  you 
about  his  work  which  you  cannot  understand  —  you 
should  therefore  listen  attentively." 

After  a  few  more  sentences  of  these  paradoxical 
axioms  on  education,  the  master  nodded,  and,  as  I 
had  been  instructed,  I  proceeded  to  talk  of  the  chem- 
ical lore  of  poison  gases. 

"  And  now,"  said  the  master,  when  I  resumed 
my  seat,  "  we  will  have  a  review  lesson.  You  will 
first  recite  in  unison  the  creed  of  your  caste." 

"  We  are  youth  of  the  super-race,"  began  the 
boys  in  a  sing-song  and  well  timed  chorus.  "  We 
belong  to  the  chemical  group  of  the  intellectual  lev- 
els, being  born  of  sires  who  were  great  chemists, 
born  of  great  chemists  for  many  generations.  It 
is  our  duty  to  learn  while  we  are  yet  young  all  that 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY         85 

we  may  ever  need  to  know,  to  keep  our  minds  free 
from  forbidden  knowledge  and  to  resist  the  tempta- 
tion to  think  on  unnecessary  things.  So  we  may  be 
good  Germans,  loyal  to  the  House  of  Hohenzollern 
and  to  the  worship  of  the  old  German  God  and  the 
divine  blood  of  William  the  Great." 

The  schoolmaster,  who  had  nodded  his  head  in 
unison  with  the  rhythm  of  the  recitation,  now  smiled 
in  satisfaction.  "  That  was  very  good,"  he  said. 
"  I  did  not  hear  one  faltering  voice.  Now  you  may 
recite  individually  in  your  alphabetical  order. 

"  Anton,  you  may  describe  the  stages  in  the  evo- 
lution of  the  super-man." 

Anton,  a  flaxen-haired  youngster,  arose,  saluted 
like  a  wooden  soldier,  and  intoned  the  following 
monologue: 

"  Man  is  an  animal  in  the  process  of  evolving 
into  a  god.  The  method  of  this  evolution  is  a  strug- 
gle in  which  the  weak  perish  and  the  strong  survive. 
First  in  this  process  of  man's  evolution  came  the 
savage,  who  lived  with  the  lions  and  the  apes.  In 
the  second  stage  came  the  dark  races  who  built  the 
so-called  ancient  civilizations,  and  fought  among 
themselves  to  possess  private  property  and  women 
and  children.  Third  came  the  barbarian  Blond 
Brutes,  who  were  destined  to  sire  the  super-race, 
but  the  day  had  not  yet  come,  and  they  mixed  with 
the  dark  races  and  produced  the  mongrel  peoples, 
which  make  the  fourth.  The  fifth  stage  is  the  pure 
bred  Blond  Brutes,  uncontaminated  by  inferior 
races,  which  are  the  men,  who  under  God's  direction, 


86  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

built  the  Armoured  City  of  Berlin  in  which  to  breed 
the  Supermen  who  are  to  conquer  the  mongrel  peo- 
ples. The  sixth,  last  and  culminating  stage  of  the 
evolution  of  man  is  the  Divinity  in  human  form 
which  is  our  noble  House  of  Hohenzollern,  de- 
scended physically  from  William  the  Great,  and  spir- 
itually from  the  soul  of  God  Himself,  whose  statue 
stands  with  that  of  the  Mighty  William  at  the  por- 
tals of  the  Emperor's  palace." 

It  had  been  a  noble  effort  for  so  young  a  memory 
and  as  the  proud  master  looked  at  me  expectantly 
I  could  do  nothing  less  than  nod  my  appreciation. 

The  master  now  gave  Bruno  the  following  cue: 

"  Name  the  four  kinds  of  government  and  ex- 
plain each." 

From  the  sad-eyed  youth  of  twelve  came  this  flow 
of  wisdom : 

"  The  first  form  of  government  is  monarchy,  in 
which  the  people  are  ruled  by  a  man  who  calls  him- 
self a  king  but  who  has  no  divine  authority  so  that 
the  people  sometimes  failed  to  respect  him  and  made 
revolutions  and  tried  to  govern  themselves.  The 
second  form  of  government  is  a  republic,  sometimes 
called  a  democracy.  It  is  usually  co-existent  with 
the  lawyer,  the  priest,  the  family  and  the  greed  for 
gold.  But  in  reality  this  government  is  by  the  rich 
men,  who  let  the  poor  men  vote  and  think  they  have 
a  share  in  the  government,  thus  to  keep  them  con- 
tented with  their  poverty.  The  third  form  of  gov- 
ernment is  proletariat  socialism  in  which  the  people, 
having  abolished  kings   and   rich  men,   attempt   to 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY  87 

govern  themselves;  but  this  they  cannot  do  for  the 
same  reason  that  a  man  cannot  lift  himself  by  his 
shoestraps  — " 

At  this  point  Bruno  faltered  and  his  face  went 
chalky  white.  The  teacher  being  directly  in  front 
of  the  standing  pupil  did  not  see  what  had  hap- 
pened, while  I,  with  fleeting  memory  of  my  own 
school  days,  suppressed  my  mirth  behind  a  formal 
countenance,  as  the  stoic  Bruno  resumed  his  seat. 

The  master  marked  zero  on  the  roll  and  called 
upon  Conrad,  next  in  line,  to  finish  the  recitation. 

"  The  fourth  and  last  form  of  government,"  re- 
cited Conrad,  "  is  autocratic  socialism,  the  perfect 
government  that  we  Germans  have  evolved  from 
proletariat  socialism  which  had  destroyed  the  greed 
for  private  property  and  private  family  life,  so  that 
the  people  ceased  to  struggle  individually  and  were 
ready  to  accept  the  Royal  House,  divinely  appointed 
by  God  to  govern  them  perfectly  and  prepare  them 
to  make  war  for  the  conquest  of  the  world." 

The  recitations  now  turned  to  repetitions  of  the 
pedigree  and  ranking  of  the  various  branches  of  the 
Royal  House.  But  it  was  a  mere  list  of  names  like 
the  begats  of  Genesis  and  I  was  not  able  to  profit 
much  by  this  opportunity  to  improve  my  own  neg- 
lected education.  As  the  morning  wore  on  the 
parrot-like  monologues  shifted  to  elementary  chem- 
istry. 

The  master  had  gone  entirely  through  the  alpha- 
bet of  names  and  now  called  again  the  apt  Anton 
for  a  more  brilliant  demonstration  of  his  system  of 


88  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

teaching.  "  Since  we  have  with  us  a  chemist  who 
has  achieved  powers  of  original  thought,  I  will  per- 
mit you,  Anton,  to  demonstrate  that  even  at  the 
tender  age  of  twelve  you  are  capable  of  original 
thought." 

Anton  rose  gravely  and  stood  at  attention. 
"  And  what  shall  I  think  about?  "  he  asked. 

"  About  anything  you  like,"  responded  the  liberal 
minded  schoolmaster,  "  provided  it  is  limited  to  your 
permitted  field  of  psychic  activity." 

Anton  tilted  back  his  head  and  gazed  raptly  at  a 
portrait  of  the  Mighty  William.  "  I  think,"  he 
said,  "  that  the  water  molecule  is  made  of  two  atoms 
of  hydrogen  and  one  of  oxygen." 

A  number  of  the  boys  shook  their  heads  in  dis- 
approval, evidently  recognizing  the  thought  as  not 
being  original,  but  the  teacher  waited  in  respectful 
silence  for  the  founts  of  originality  to  burst  forth  in 
Anton's  mind. 

"  And  I  think,"  continued  Anton,  "  that  if  the 
water  molecule  were  made  of  four  atoms  of  nitro- 
gen and  one  of  oxygen,  it  would  be  a  great  economy, 
for  after  we  had  bathed  in  the  water  we  could  evap- 
orate it  and  make  air  and  breath  it,  and  after  we 
had  breathed  it  we  could  condense  it  again  and  use 
it  to  drink  — " 

"  But  that  would  be  unsanitary,"  piped  a  voice 
from  the  back  of  the  room. 

To  this  interruption  Anton,  without  taking  his 
gaze  from  the  face  of  William,  replied,  "  Of  course 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY  89 

it  would  if  we  didn't  sterilize  it,  but  I  was  coming 
to  that.     We  would  sterilize  it  each  time." 

The  master  now  designated  two  boys  to  take  to 
the  guardhouse  of  the  school  the  lad  who  had  spoken 
without  permission.  He  then  produced  a  red  card- 
board cross  adorned  with  the  imperial  eagle  and 
crossed  test-tubes  of  the  chemists'  insignia  and  I  was 
honoured  by  being  asked  to  decorate  Anton  for  his 
brilliant  exploit  in  original  thought. 

"  Our  intellectual  work  of  the  day  is  over,"  re- 
sumed the  master,  "  but  in  honour  of  our  guest  we 
will  have,  a  day  in  advance,  our  weekly  exercises  in 
emotion.  Heinrich,  you  may  recite  for  us  the  cate- 
gory of  emotions." 

"  The  permitted  emotions,"  said  Heinrich,  "  are: 
First,  anger,  which  we  should  feel  when  a  weak 
enemy  offends  us.  Second,  hate,  which  is  a  higher 
form  of  anger,  which  we  should  feel  when  a  power- 
ful enemy  offends  us.  Third,  sadness,  which  we 
should  feel  when  we  suffer.  Fourth,  mirth,  which 
we  should  feel  when  our  enemy  suffers.  Fifth, 
courage,  which  we  feel  at  all  times  because  we  be- 
lieve in  our  strength.  Sixth,  humility,  which  we 
should  feel  only  before  our  superiors.  Seventh,  and 
greatest,  is  pride,  which  we  should  feel  at  all  times 
because  we  are  Germans. 

"  The  forbidden  emotions  are  very  numerous. 
The  chief  ones  which  we  must  guard  against  are: 
First,  pity,  which  is  a  sadness  when  our  enemy  suf- 
ers;  to  feel  this  is  exceedingly  wicked.     Second,  envy, 


9o  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

which  is  a  feeling  that  some  one  else  is  better  than 
we  are,  which  we  must  not  feel  at  all  because  it  is 
destructive  of  pride.  Third,  fear,  which  is  a  lack 
of  courage.  Fourth,  love,  which  is  a  confession  of 
weakness,  and  is  permissible  only  to  women  and 
dogs." 

"  Very  good,"  said  the.  master,  "  I  will  now 
grant  you  permission  to  feel  some  of  the  permitted 
emotions.  We  will  first  conduct  a  chemical  experi- 
ment. I  have  in  this  bottle  a  dangerous  explosive 
and  as  I  drop  in  this  pellet  it  may  explode  and  kill 
us  all,  but  you  must  show  courage  and  not  fear." 
He  held  the  pellet  above  the  mouth  of  the  bottle, 
but  his  eyes  were  on  his  pupils.  As  he  dropped  the 
pellet  into  the  bottle,  he  knocked  over  with  his  foot 
a  slab  of  concrete,  which  fell  to  the  floor  with  a 
resounding  crash.  A  few  of  the  boys  jumped  in 
their  seats,  and  the  master  gravely  marked  them  as 
deficient  in  courage. 

"  You  now  imagine  that  you  are  adult  chemists 
and  that  the  enemy  has  produced  a  new  form  of  gas 
bomb,  a  gas  against  which  we  have  no  protection. 
They  are  dropping  the  gas  bombs  into  our  venti- 
lating shafts  and  are  killing  our  soldiers  in  the  mines. 
You  hate  the  enemy  —  hate  hard  —  make  your  faces 
black  with  hate  and  rage.  Adolph,  you  are  express- 
ing mere  anger.  There,  that  is  better.  You  never 
can  be  a  good  German  until  you  learn  to  hate. 

"  And  now  we  will  have  a  permitted  emotion  that 
you  all  enjoy;  the  privilege  to  feel  mirth  is  a  thing 
for  which  you  should  be  grateful. 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY         91 

"  An  enemy  came  flying  over  Berlin  —  and  this 
is  a  true  story.  I  can  remember  when  it  happened. 
The  roof  guard  shot  at  him  and  winged  his  plane, 
and  he  came  down  in  his  parachute,  which  missed 
the  roof  of  the  city  and  fell  to  the  earth  outside  the 
walls  but  within  the  first  ring  of  the  ray  defences. 
He  knew  that  he  could  not  pass  beyond  this  and  he 
wandered  about  for  many  days  within  range  of  the 
glasses  of  the  roof  guards.  When  he  was  nearly 
starved  he  came  near  the  wall  and  waved  his  white 
kerchief,  which  meant  he  wished  to  surrender  and  be 
taken  into  the  city." 

At  this  point  one  of  the  boys  tittered,  and  the 
master  stopped  his  story  long  enough  to  mark  a 
credit  for  this  first  laugh. 

"  As  the  enemy  aviator  continued  to  walk  about 
waving  his  cowardly  flag  another  enemy  plane  saw 
him  and  let  down  a  line,  but  the  roof  guards  shelled 
and  destroyed  the  plane.  Then  other  planes  came 
and  attempted  to  pick  up  the  man  with  lines.  In  all 
seven  planes  were  destroyed  in  attempting  to  rescue 
one  man.  It  was  very  foolish  and  very  comical. 
At  last  the  eighth  plane  came  and  succeeded  in  reach- 
ing the  man  a  line  without  being  winged.  The  roof 
batteries  shot  at  the  plane  in  vain  —  then  the  roof 
gunners  became  filled  with  good  German  hate,  and 
one  of  them  aimed,  not  at  the  plane,  but  at  the  man 
swinging  on  the  unstable  wire  line  two  thousand 
metres  beneath.  The  shell  exploded  so  near  that 
the  man  disappeared  as  by  magic,  and  the  plane  flew 
off  with  the  empty  dangling  line." 


92  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

As  the  story  was  finished  the  boys  who  had  lis- 
tened with  varying  degrees  of  mechanical  smiles 
now  broke  out  into  a  chorus  of  raucous  laughter. 
It  was  a  forced  unnatural  laughter  such  as  one  hears 
from  a  bad  actor  attempting  to  express  mirth  he 
does  not  feel. 

When  the  boys  had  ceased  their  crude  guffaws  the 
master  asked,  "  Why  did  you  laugh?  " 

"  Because,"  answered  Conrad,  "  the  enemy  were 
so  stupid  as  to  waste  seven  planes  trying  to  save  one 
man." 

"That  is  fine,"  said  the  master;  "we  should  al- 
ways laugh  when  our  enemy  is  stupid,  because  then 
he  suffers  without  knowing  why  he  suffers.  If  the 
enemy  were  not  stupid  they  would  cease  fighting  and 
permit  us  to  rule  them  and  breed  the  stupidity  out 
of  them,  as  it  has  been  bred  out  of  the  Germans  by 
our  good  old  God  and  the  divine  mind  of  the  House 
of  Hohenzollern." 

The  boys  were  now  dismissed  for  a  recess  and 
went  into  the  gymnasium  to  play  leap  frog.  But  the 
sad-eyed  Bruno  promptly  returned  and  saluted. 

"  You  may  speak,"  said  the  master. 

"  I  wish,  Herr  Teacher,"  said  Bruno,  "  to  peti- 
tion you  for  permission  to  fight  with  Conrad." 

"  But  you  must  not  begin  a  fight,"  admonished 
the  master,  "  unless  you  can  attach  to  your  opponent 
the  odium  of  causing  the  strife." 

"  But  he  did  cause  the  odium,"  said  Bruno;  "  he 
stuck  it  into  my  leg  with  a  pin  while  I  was  reciting. 
The  Herr  Father  saw  him  do  it," —  and  the  boy 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY  93 

turned  his  eyes  towards  me  in  sad  and  serious  ap- 
peal. 

The  schoolmaster  glanced  at  me  inquiringly  and 
I  corroborated  the  lad's  accusation. 

"  Then,"  said  the  master,  "  you  have  a  casus  belli 
that  is  actually  true,  and  if  you  can  make  Conrad 
admit  his  guilt  I  will  exchange  your  mark  for  his." 

Bruno  saluted  again  and  started  to  leave.  Then 
he  turned  back  and  said,  "  But  Conrad  is  two  kilo- 
grams heavier  than  I  am,  and  he  may  not  admit  it." 

"  Then,"  said  the  teacher,  "  you  must  know  that 
I  cannot  exchange  the  marks,  for  victory  in  a  fight 
compensates  for  the  fault  that  caused  it.  But  if 
you  wish  I  will  change  the  marks  now,  but  then  you 
cannot  fight." 

"  But  I  wish  to  fight,"  said  Bruno,  "  and  so  does 
Conrad.  We  arranged  it  before  recitation  that  he 
was  to  stick  me  with  the  pin." 

"  Such  diplomacy !  "  exulted  the  master  when  the 
lad  had  gone,  "  and  to  think  that  they  can  only  be 
chemists !  " 

3 

As  the  evening  hour  drew  near  which  I  had  set 
for  my  call  on  the  first  of  the  potential  mothers  as- 
signed me  by  the  Eugenic  Staff,  I  re-read  the  rules 
for  my  conduct : 

"  On  the  occasion  of  this  visit  you  must  wear  a  full  dress 
uniform,  including  all  orders,  decorations  and  badges  of 
rank  and  service  to  which  you  are  entitled.     This  is  very 


94  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

important  and  you  should  call  attention  thereto  and  explain 
the  full  dignity  and  importance  of  your  rank  and  decora- 
tions. 

"  When  you  call  you  will  first  present  the  card  of  authori- 
zation. You  will  then  present  your  identification  folder  and 
extol  the  worth  and  character  of  your  pedigree. 

11  Then  you  will  ask  to  see  the  pedigree  of  the  woman, 
and  will  not  fail  to  comment  favourably  thereon.  If  she  be 
already  a  mother  you  will  inquire  in  regard  to  her  children. 
If  she  be  not  a  mother,  you  will  supplicate  her  to  speak  of 
her  potential  children.  You  will  extol  the  virtue  of  her  off- 
spring —  or  her  visions  thereof, —  and  will  not  fail  to  speak 
favourably  of  their  promise  of  becoming  great  chemists  whose 
service  will  redound  to  the  honour  of  the  German  race  and 
the  Royal  House. 

"  After  the  above  mentioned  matters  have  been  properly 
spoken  of,  you  may  compliment  the  mother  upon  her  own 
intelligence  and  fitness  as  a  mother  of  scientists.  But  you 
will  refrain  from  all  reference  to  her  beauty  of  person,  lest 
her  thoughts  be  diverted  from  her  higher  purpose  to  matters 
of  personal  amours. 

"  You  will  not  prolong  your  call  beyond  the  hours  consist- 
ent with  dignity  and  propriety,  nor  permit  the  mother  to  per- 
ceive your  disposition  toward  her." 

Surely  nothing  in  such  formal  procedure  could  be 
incompatible  with  my  own  ideals  of  propriety.  Tak- 
ing with  me  my  card  of  authorization  bearing  the 
name  "  Frau  Karoline,  daughter  of  Ernest  Pfeiffer, 
Director  of  the  Perfume  Works,"  I  now  ventured 
to  the  Level  of  Maternity. 

Countless  women  passed  me  as  I  walked  along. 
They  were  erect  of  form  and  plain  of  feature,  with 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY         95 

expressions  devoid  of  either  intelligence  or  passion. 
Garbed  in  formless  robes  of  sombre  grey,  like  saints 
of  song  and  story,  they  went  their  way  with  solemn 
resignation.  Some  of  them  led  small  children  by 
the  hand;  others  pushed  perambulators  containing 
white  robed  infants  being  taken  to  or  from  the 
nurseries  for  their  scheduled  stays  in  the  mothers' 
individual  apartments. 

The  actions  of  the  mothers  were  as  methodical 
as  well  trained  nurses.  In  their  faces  was  the  cold, 
pallid  light  of  the  mother  love  of  the  madonnas 
of  art,  uncontaminated  by  the  fretful  excitement 
of  the  mother  love  in  a  freer  and  more  uncertain 
world. 

Even  the  children  seemed  wooden  cherubim. 
They  were  physically  healthy  beyond  all  blemish, 
but  they  cooed  and  smiled  in  a  subdued  manner. 
Already  the  ever  present  "  verboten  "  of  an  ordered 
life  seemed  to  have  crept  into  the  small  souls  and 
repressed  the  instincts  of  anarchy  and  the  aspirations 
of  individualism.  As  I  walked  among  these  ma- 
donnas of  science  and  their  angelic  offspring,  I  felt 
as  I  imagined  a  man  of  earthly  passions  would  feel 
if  suddenly  loosed  in  a  mediaeval  and  orthodox 
heaven;  for  everything  about  me  breathed  peace, 
goodness,  and  coldness. 

At  the  door  of  her  apartment  Frau  Karoline 
greeted  me  with  formal  gravity.  She  was  a  young 
woman  of  twenty  years,  with  a  high  forehead  and 
piercing  eyes.  Her  face  was  mobile  but  her  man- 
ner possessed   the   dignity   of   the   matron   assured 


96  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

of  her  importance  in  the  world.  Her  only  child 
was  at  the  nursery  at  the  time,  in  accordance  with 
the  rules  of  the  level  that  forbids  a  man  to  see  his 
step-children.  But  a  large  photograph,  aided  by 
Frau  Karoline's  fulsome  description  and  eulogies, 
gave  me  a  very  clear  picture  of  the  high  order  of 
the  young  chemist's  intelligence  though  that  worthy 
had  but  recently  passed  his  first  birthday. 

The  necessary  matters  of  the  inspection  of  pedi- 
grees and  the  signing  of  my  card  of  authorization 
had  been  conducted  by  the  young  mother  with  the 
cool  self-possession  of  a  well  disciplined  school-mis- 
tress. Her  attitude  and  manner  revealed  the  thor- 
oughness of  her  education  and  training  for  her  du- 
ties and  functions  in  life.  And  yet,  though  she  re- 
lieved me  so  skilfully  of  what  I  feared  would  be  an 
embarrassing  situation,  I  conceived  an  intense  dis- 
like for  this  most  exemplary  young  mother,  for  she 
made  me  feel  that  a  man  was  a  most  useless  and  in- 
significant creature  to  be  tolerated  as  a  necessary 
evil  in  this  maternal  world. 

"  Surely,"  said  Frau  Karoline,  as  I  returned  her 
pedigree,  "  you  could  not  do  better  for  your  first 
born  child  than  to  honour  me  with  his  motherhood. 
Not  only  is  my  pedigree  of  the  purest  of  chemical 
lines,  reaching  back  to  the  establishment  of  the  eu- 
genic control,  but  I  myself  have  taken  the  highest 
honours  in  the  training  for  motherhood." 

'  Yes,"   I   acknowledged,    "  you   seem  very  well 
trained." 

11  I  am  particularly  well  versed,"  she  continued, 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY         97 

"  in  maternal  psychology;  and  I  have  successfully 
cultivated  calmness.  In  the  final  tests  before  my 
confirmation  for  maternity  I  was  found  to  be  en- 
tirely free  from  erotic  and  sentimental  emotions." 

"  But,"  I  ventured,  "  is  not  maternal  love  a  senti- 
mental emotion?  " 

"  By  no  means,"  replied  Frau  Karoline.  "  Ma- 
ternal love  of  the  highest  order,  such  as  I  possess,  is 
purely  intellectual;  it  recognizes  only  the  passions 
for  the  greatness  of  race  and  the  glory  of  the  Royal 
House.  Such  love  must  be  born  of  the  intellect; 
that  is  why  we  women  of  the  scientific  group  are  the 
best  of  all  mothers.  Thus,  were  I  not  wholly  free 
from  weak  sentimentality,  I  might  desire  that  my 
second  child  be  sired  by  the  father  of  my  first,  but 
the  Eugenic  Office  has  determined  that  I  would  bear 
a  stronger  child  from  a  younger  father,  therefore  I 
acquiesced  to  their  change  of  assignment  without 
emotion,  as  becomes  a  proper  mother  of  our  well 
bred  race.  My  first  child  is  extremely  intellectual 
but  he  is  not  quite  perfect  physically,  and  a  mother 
such  as  I  should  bear  only  perfect  children.  That 
alone  is  the  supreme  purpose  of  motherhood.  Do 
you  not  see  that  I  am  fitted  for  perfect  mother- 
hood?" 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  as  I  recalled  that  my  instruc- 
tions were  to  pay  compliments,  "  you  seem  to  be  a 
perfect  mother." 

But  the  cold  and  logical  perfection  of  Frau  Karo- 
line dampened  my  curiosity  and  oppressed  my  spirit 
of  adventure,   and  I  closed  the  interview  with  all 


98  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

possible  speed  and  fled  headlong  to  the  nearest  ele- 
vator that  would  carry  me  from  the  level. 


In  my  first  experience  I  had  suffered  nothing  worse 
than  an  embarrassing  half  hour,  so,  with  more  con- 
fidence I  pressed  the  bell  the  second  evening,  at  the 
apartment  of  Frau  Augusta,  daughter  of  Gustave 
Schnorr,  Authority  on  Synthetic  Nicotine. 

Frau  Augusta  was  a  woman  of  thirty-five.  She 
was  well-preserved,  more  handsome  and  less  coldly 
inhuman  than  the  younger  woman. 

"  We  will  get  the  formalities  over  since  you  have 
been  told  they  are  necessary,"  said  Frau  Augusta, 
as  she  reached  for  my  card  and  folder  and,  at  the 
same  time,  handing  me  her  own  pedigree. 

Peering  over  the  top  of  the  chart  that  recorded 
the  antecedents  of  Gustave  Schnorr,  I  saw  his  daugh- 
ter going  through  my  own  folder  with  the  business- 
like dispatch  of  a  society  dowager  examining  the 
"  character  "  of  a  new  housemaid. 

"  Ah,  yes,"  she  said,  raising  her  brows.  "  I 
thought  I  knew  the  family.  Your  Uncle  Otto  was 
my  second  mate.  He  is  the  father  of  my  third  son 
and  my  twin  girls.  I  have  no  more  promising  chil- 
dren. Have  you  ever  met  him?  He  is  in  the 
aluminum  tempering  laboratories." 

I  could  only  stare  stupidly,  struck  dumb  with  em- 
barrassment. 

"  No,  I  suppose  not,"  went  on  Frau  Augusta, 
"  it  is  hardly  to  be  expected  since  you  have  upwards 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY         99 

of  a  hundred  uncles."  She  arose  and,  going  toward 
a  shelf  where  half  a  dozen  pictures  of  half  a  dozen 
men  reposed  in  an  orderly  row,  took  the  second  one 
of  the  group  and  handed  it  to  me. 

"  He  is  a  fine  man,"  she  said,  with  a  very  full 
degree  of  pride  for  a  past  and  partial  possession. 
u  I  fear  the  Staff  erred  in  transferring  him,  but  then 
of  course  the  twin  girls  were  most  unexpected  and 
unfortunate  since  the  Armstadt  line  is  supposed  to 
sire  seventy-five  per  cent,  male  offspring. 

"  What  do  you  think?  Isn't  the  Eugenic  Office 
a  little  unfair  at  times?  My  fifth  man  thought  so. 
He  said  it  was  a  case  of  politics.  I  don't  know.  I 
thought  politics  was  something  ancient  that  they  had 
in  old  books  like  churches  and  families." 

"  I  am  sure  I  do  not  know,"  I  murmured,  as  I 
fumbled  the  portrait  of  my  putative  uncle. 

"  Of  course,"  continued  the  voluble  Frau  Augusta, 
"  you  must  not  think  I  am  criticizing  the  authorities. 
It  is  all  very  necessary.  And  for  the  most  part  I 
think  they  have  done  very  well  by  me.  My  ten 
children  have  six  fathers.  All  of  them  but  the  first 
were  men  of  most  gracious  manner  and  superior  in- 
telligence. The  first  one  had  his  paternity  right 
revoked,  so  I  feel  satisfied  on  that  score,  even  if  his 
son  is  not  gifted  —  and  yet  the  boy  has  beautiful 
hair  —  I  think  he  would  make  an  excellent  violinist. 
But  then  perhaps  he  wouldn't  have  been  able  to 
play,  so  maybe  it  is  all  right,  though  I  would  think 
music  would  be  more  easily  learned  than  chemistry. 
But  then  since  I  cannot  read  either  I  ought  not  to 


ioo         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

judge.  I  will  show  you  his  picture.  I  may  as  well 
show  you  all  their  pictures.  I  don't  see  why  you 
elected  fathers  should  not  see  our  children  —  but 
then  I  suppose  it  might  produce  quarrels.  Some 
women  are  so  foolish  and  insist  on  talking  about 
the  children  they  have  already  borne  in  a  way  that 
makes  a  man  feel  that  his  own  children  could  never 
come  up  to  them.  Now  I  never  do  that.  Why 
should  one?  The  future  is  always  more  interesting 
than  the  past.  I  haven't  a  single  child  that  has  not 
won  the  porcelain  cross  for  obedience.  Even  my 
youngest  —  he  is  only  fourteen  months  —  obeys  as 
if  he  were  a  full  grown  man.  Some  say  mental  and 
physical  excellence  are  not  correlated  —  but  that  is 
a  prejudice  because  of  those  great  labour  beasts. 
There  isn't  one  of  my  children  that  has  fallen  below 
the  minimum  growth  standards,  except  my  third 
daughter,  and  her  father  was  undersized,  so  it  is  no 
fault  of  mine." 

As  the  loquacious  mother  chattered  on,  she  pro- 
duced an  album,  through  which  I  now  turned,  in- 
specting the  annual  photographs  of  her  blond  brood, 
each  of  which  was  labelled  with  the  statistics  of  phys- 
ical growth  and  the  tests  of  psychic  development. 

Strive  as  I  might  I  could  think  of  no  comments 
to  make,  but  the  mother  came  to  the  rescue.  Un- 
fastening the  binding  of  the  loose  leaf  album  she 
hastily  shuffled  the  sheets  and  brought  into  an  or- 
derly array  on  the  table  before  me  ten  photographs 
all  taken  at  the  age  of  one  year.  "  That  is  the 
only  fair  way  to  view  them,"  she  said,  "  for  of  course 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY        101 

one  cannot  compare  the  picture  of  a  boy  of  fifteen 
with  an  infant  of  one  year.  But  at  an  equal  age 
the  comparison  is  fair  to  all  and  now  you  can  surely 
tell  me  which  is  the  most  intelligent." 

I  gazed  hopelessly  at  the  infantile  portraits  which, 
despite  their  varied  paternity,  looked  as  alike  as  a 
row  of  peas  in  a  pod. 

"  Oh,  well,"  said  Frau  Augusta,  "  after  all  is  it 
fair  to  ask  you,  since  the  twins  are  your  cousins?  " 

Desperately  I  wondered  which  were  the  twins. 

"  They  resemble  you  quite  remarkably,  don't  you 
think  so?  Except  that  your  hair  is  quite  dark  for 
an  Armstadt."  Frau  Augusta  turned  and  glanced 
furtively  at  my  identification  folder.  "  Of  course ! 
your  mother.  I  had  almost  forgotten  who  your 
mother  was,  but  now  I  remember,  she  had  most  re- 
markably dark  hair.  It  will  probably  prove  a  dom- 
inant characteristic  and  your  children  will  also  be 
dark  haired.  Now  I  should  like  that  by  way  of  a 
change." 

I  became  alarmed  at  this  turn  of  the  conversation 
toward  the  more  specific  function  of  my  visit,  and 
resolved  to  make  my  exit  with  all  possible  speed 
"  consistent  with  dignity  and  propriety." 

Meanwhile,  as  she  reassembled  the  scattered 
sheets  of  the  portrait  album,  the  official  mother  chat- 
tered on  concerning  her  children's  attributes,  while 
I  shifted  uneasily  in  my  chair  and  looked  about  the 
room  for  my  hat  —  forgetting  in  my  embarrassment 
that  I  was  dwelling  in  a  sunless,  rainless  city  and 
possessed  no  hat. 


io2         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

At  last  there  was  a  lull  in  the  monologue  and  I 
arose  and  said  I  must  be  going. 

Frau  Augusta  looked  pained  and  I  recalled  that 
I  had  not  yet  complimented  her  upon  her  intelli- 
gence and  fitness  to  be  the  mother  of  coming  gen- 
erations of  chemical  scientists,  but  I  stubbornly  re- 
solved not  to  resume  my  seat. 

'  You  are  young,"  said  Frau  Augusta,  who  had 
risen  and  shifted  her  position  till  she  stood  between 
me  and  the  door.  "  Surely  you  have  not  yet  made 
many  calls  on  the  maternity  level."  Then  she 
sighed,  "  I  do  not  see  why  they  assign  a  man  only 
three  names  to  select  from.  Surely  they  could  be 
more  liberal."  She  paused  and  her  face  hardened. 
"  And  to  think  that  you  men  are  permitted  to  call 
as  often  as  you  like  upon  those  degenerate  hussies 
who  have  been  forbidden  the  sacred  duties  of  moth- 
erhood. It  is  a  very  wicked  institution,  that  level 
of  lust  —  some  day  we  women  —  we  mothers  of 
Berlin  —  will  rise  in  our  wrath  and  see  that  they 
are  banished  to  the  mines,  for  they  produce  nothing 
but  sin  and  misery  in  this  man-made  world." 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  the  system  is  very  wrong,  but  — " 

"  But  the  authorities,  you  need  not  say  it,  I  have 
heard  it  all  before,  the  authorities,  always  the  au- 
thorities. Why  should  men  always  be  the  authori- 
ties? Why  do  we  mothers  of  Berlin  have  no  rights? 
Why  are  we  not  consulted  in  these  matters?  Why 
must  we  always  submit?  " 

Then  suddenly,  and  very  much  to  my  surprise,  she 
placed    her    hands    upon    my    shoulders    and    said 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY        103 

hoarsely:  "Tell  me  about  the  Free  Level.  Are 
the  women  there  more  beautiful  than  I?  " 

"  No,"  I  said,  "  very  few  of  them  are  beautiful, 
and  those  of  the  labour  groups  are  most  gross  and 
stupid." 

"  Then  why,"  wailed  Frau  Augusta,  "  was  I  not 
allowed  to  go?  Why  was  I  penned  up  here  and 
made  to  bear  children  when  others  revel  in  the  de- 
lights of  love  and  song  and  laughter?  " 

"  But,"  I  said,  shocked  at  this  unexpected  revela- 
tion of  character,  "  yours  is  the  more  honourable, 
more  virtuous  life.  You  were  chosen  for  mother- 
hood because  you  are  a  woman  of  superior  intelli- 
gence." 

"  It's  a  lie,"  cried  Frau  Augusta.  "  I  have  no 
intelligence.  I  want  none.  But  I  am  as  beautiful 
as  they.  But  no,  they  would  not  let  me  go.  They 
penned  me  up  here  with  these  saintly  mothers  and 
these  angelic  children.  Children,  children  every- 
where, millions  and  millions  of  them,  and  not  a  man 
but  doctors,  and  you  elected  fathers  who  are  sent 
here  to  bring  us  pain  and  sorrow.  You  say  noth- 
ing of  love  —  your  eyes  are  cold.  The  last  one 
said  he  loved  me  —  the  brute  !  He  came  but  thrice, 
when  my  child  was  born  he  sent  me  a  flower.  But 
that  is  the  official  rule.  And  I  hate  him,  and  hate 
his  child  that  has  his  lying  eyes." 

The  distraught  woman  covered  her  face  with  her 
hands  and  burst  into  violent  weeping. 

When  she  had  ceased  her  sobs  I  tried  to  explain  to 
her  the  philosophy  of  contentment  with  life's  lot.     I 


io4  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

told  her  of  the  seamy  side  of  the  gown  that  cloaks 
licentiousness  and  of  the  sorrows  and  bitterness  of 
the  ashes  of  burned  out  love.  With  the  most  irides- 
cent words  at  my  command  I  painted  for  her  the 
halo  of  the  madonna's  glory,  and  translated  for  her 
the  English  verse  that  informs  us  that  there  is  not 
a  flower  in  any  land,  nor  a  pearl  in  any  sea,  that  is 
as  beautiful  and  lovely  as  any  child  on  any  mother's 
knee. 

But  I  do  not  think  I  altogether  consoled  Frau 
Augusta  for  my  German  vocabulary  was  essentially 
scientific,  not  poetic.  But  I  made  a  noble  effort  and 
when  I  left  her  I  felt  very  much  the  preacher,  for 
the  function  of  the  preacher,  not  unlike  death,  is  to 
make  us  cling  to  those  ills  we  have  when  we  would 
fly  to  others  that  we  know  not  of. 

5 

There  remained  but  one  card  unsigned  of  the 
three  given  me. 

Frau  Matilda,  daughter  of  Siegfried  Oberwinder, 
Analine  Analyst,  was  registered  as  eighteen  and  evi- 
dently an  inexperienced  mother-elect  as  I  was  a 
father-elect.  The  nature  of  the  man  is  to  hold  the 
virgin  above  the  madonna,  and  in  starting  on  my 
third  journey  to  the  maternity  level,  I  found  hitherto 
inexperienced  feelings  tugging  at  my  heartstrings 
and  resolved  that  whatever  she  might  be,  I  would 
be  dignified  and  formal  yet  most  courteous  and  kind. 

My  ring  was  answered  by  a  slender,  frightened 
girl.     She  was  so  shy  that  she  could  only  nod  for 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY       105 

me  to  enter.  I  offered  my  card  and  folder,  smiling 
to  reassure  her,  but  she  retreated  precipitously  into 
a  far  corner  and  sat  staring  at  me  beseechingly  with 
big  grey  eyes  that  seemed  the  only  striking  feature 
of  her  small  pinched  face. 

"  I  am  sorry  if  I  frighten  you,"  I  said,  "  but  of 
course  you  know  that  I  am  sent  by  the  eugenic  au- 
thorities. I  will  not  detain  you  long.  All  that  is 
really  necessary  is  for  you  to  sign  this  card." 

She  timidly  signed  the  card  and  returned  it  to  the 
corner  of  the  table. 

I  felt  extremely  sorry  for  the  fluttering  creature; 
and,  knowing  that  I  could  not  alter  her  lot,  I  sought 
to  speak  words  of  encouragement.  "  If  you  find  it 
hard  now,"  I  said,  "  it  is  only  because  you  are  young 
and  a  stranger  to  life,  but  you  will  be  recompensed 
when  you  know  the  joys  of  motherhood." 

At  my  words  a  look  of  consecrated  purpose 
glowed  in  the  girl's  white  face.  "  Oh,  yes,"  she 
said  eagerly.  "  I  wish  very  much  to  be  a  mother. 
I  have  studied  so  hard  to  learn.  I  wish  only  to 
give  myself  to  the  holy  duties  of  maternity.  But  I 
am  so  afraid." 

"  But  you  need  not  be  afraid  of  me,"  I  said. 
"  This  is  only  a  formal  call  which  I  have  made  be- 
cause the  Eugenic  Staff  ordered  it  so.  But  it  seems 
to  me  that  some  better  plan  might  be  made  for  these 
meetings.  Some  social  life  might  be  arranged  so 
that  you  would  become  acquainted  with  the  men  who 
are  to  be  the  fathers  of  your  children  under  less 
embarrassing  circumstances." 


106         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

"  I  try  so  hard  not  to  be  afraid  of  men,  for  I 
know  they  are  necessary  to  eugenics." 

"  Yes,"  I  said  dryly,  "  I  suppose  they  are,  though 
I  think  I  would  prefer  to  put  it  that  the  love  of 
man  and  woman  is  necessary  to  parenthood." 

"  Oh,  no,"  she  said  in  a  frightened  voice,  "  not 
that,  that  is  very  wicked." 

"  So  you  were  taught  that  you  should  not  love 
men?     No  wonder  you  are  afraid  of  them." 

"  I  was  taught  to  respect  men  for  they  are  the 
fathers  of  children,"  she  replied. 

"  Then,"  I  asked,  deciding  to  probe  the  philosophy 
of  the  education  for  maternity,  "  why  are  not  the 
fathers  permitted  to  enjoy  their  fatherhood  and  live 
with  the  mother  and  the  children?  " 

Frau  Matilda  now  gazed  at  me  with  open- 
mouthed  astonishment.  "  What  a  beautiful  idea!  " 
she  exclaimed  with  rapture. 

"  Yes,  I  rather  like  it  myself  —  the  family — " 

"  The  family!  "  cried  the  girl  in  horror. 

"  That  is  what  we  were  talking  about." 

"  But  the  family  is  forbidden.  It  is  very  wrong, 
very  uneugenic.  You  must  be  a  wicked  man  to  speak 
to  me  of  that." 

"  You  have  been  taught  some  very  foolish  ideas," 
I  replied. 

"  How  dare  you !  "  she  cried,  in  alarm.  "  I  have 
been  taught  what  is  right,  and  I  want  to  do  what  is 
right  and  loyal.  I  passed  all  my  examinations.  I 
am  a  good  mother-elect,  and  you  say  these  forbidden 
things  to  me.     You  talk  of  love  and  families.     You 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY        ioj 

insult  me.  And  if  you  select  me,  I  shall  —  I  shall 
claim  exemption, — "  and  with  that  she  rose  and 
darted  through  the  inner  door. 

I  waited  for  a  time  and  then  gently  approached 
the  door,  which  I  saw  had  swung  to  with  springs 
and  had  neither  latch  nor  lock.  My  gentle  rap  upon 
the  hollow  panel  was  answered  by  a  muffled  sob.  I 
realized  the  hopelessness  of  further  words  and  si- 
lently turned  from  the  door  and  left  the  apartment. 

The  streets  of  the  level  were  almost  deserted  for 
the  curfew  had  rung  and  the  lights  glowed  dim  as 
in  a  hospital  ward  at  night.  I  hurried  silently  along, 
shut  in  by  enclosing  walls  and  the  lowering  ceiling 
of  the  street.  From  everywhere  I  seemed  to  feel 
upon  me  the  beseeching,  haunting  grey  eyes  of  Frau 
Matilda.  My  soul  was  troubled,  for  it  seemed  to 
stagger  beneath  the  burden  of  its  realization  of  a 
lost  humanity.  And  with  me  walked  grey  shadows 
of  other  men,  felt-footed  through  the  gloom,  and 
they  walked  hurriedly  as  men  fleeing  from  a  house 
of  death. 


My  next  duty  as  a  German  father-elect  was  to  re- 
port to  the  Eugenic  Office.  There  at  least  I  could 
deal  with  men;  and  there  I  went,  nursing  rebellion 
yet  trying  my  utmost  to  appear  outwardly  calm. 

To  the  clerk  I  offered  my  three  signed  cards  by 
way  of  introduction. 

11  And  which  do  you  select?  "  asked  the  oldish  man 
over  his  rimless  glasses. 


108         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

"  None." 

"  Ah,  but  you  must." 

"  But  what  if  I  refuse  to  do  so?  " 

"  That  is  most  unusual." 

"  But  does  it  ever  happen?  " 

"  Well,  yes,"  admitted  the  clerk,  "  but  only  by 
Petition  Extraordinary  to  the  Chief  of  the  Staff. 
But  it  is  most  unusual,  and  if  he  refuses  to  grant  it 
you  may  be  dishonoured  even  to  the  extent  of  hav- 
ing your  election  to  paternity  suspended,  may  be  even 
permanently  cancelled." 

"  You  mean  " —  I  stammered. 

"  Exactly  —  you  refuse  to  accept  any  one  of  the 
three  women  when  all  are  most  scientifically  selected 
for  you.  Does  it  not  throw  some  doubts  upon  your 
own  psychic  fitness  for  mating  at  all?  If  I  may 
suggest,  Herr  Colonel  —  it  would  be  wiser  for  you 
to  select  some  one  of  the  three  —  you  have  yet  plenty 
of  time." 

"  No,"  I  said,  trying  to  hide  my  elation.  "  I  will 
not  do  so.  I  will  make  the  Petition  Extraordinary 
to  your  chief." 

"  Now?  "  stammered  the  clerk. 

"  Yes,  now;  how  do  I  go  about  it?  " 

"  You  must  first  consult  the  Investigator." 

After  a  few  formalities  I  was  conducted  to  that 
official. 

"  You  refuse  to  make  selection?  "  inquired  the  In- 
vestigator. 

"  Yes." 

"Why?" 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY        109 

"  Because,"  I  replied,  "  I  am  engaged  upon  some 
chemical  research  of  most  unusual  nature  — " 

"  Yes,"  nodded  the  Investigator,  "  I  have  just 
looked  that  up.  The  more  reason  you  should  be 
honoured  with  paternity." 

"  Perhaps,"  I  said,  "  you  are  not  informed  of  the 
grave  importance  of  the  research.  If  you  will  con- 
sult Herr  von  Uhl  of  the  Chemical  Staff  — " 

"Entirely  unnecessary,"  he  retorted;  "paternity 
is  also  important.  Besides  it  takes  but  little  time. 
No  more  than  you  need  for  recreation." 

"  But  I  do  not  find  it  recreation.  I  have  not  been 
able  to  concentrate  my  mind  on  my  work  since  I  re- 
ceived notice  of  my  election  to  paternity." 

"  But  you  were  warned  against  this,"  he  said; 
"  you  have  no  right  to  permit  the  development  of 
disturbing  romantic  emotions.  They  may  be  bad  for 
your  work,  but  they  are  worse  for  eugenics.  So, 
if  you  have  made  romantic  love  to  the  mothers  of 
Berlin,  your  case  must  be  investigated." 

"  But  I  have  not." 

"  Then  why  has  this  disturbed  you?  " 

"  Because,"  I  replied,  "  this  system  of  scientific 
paternity  offends  my  instincts." 

The  investigator  ogled  me  craftily.  "  What 
system  would  you  prefer  instead?"  he  asked. 

I  saw  he  was  trying  to  trap  me  into  disloyal  ad- 
missions. "  I  have  nothing  to  propose,"  I  stated. 
"  I  only  know  that  I  find  the  paternity  system  of- 
fensive to  me,  and  that  the  position  I  am  placed  in 
incapacitates  me  for  my  work." 


no         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

The  investigator  made  some  notes  on  a  pad. 

"  That  is  all  for  the  present,"  he  said.  "  I  will 
refer  your  case  to  the  Chief." 

Two  days  later  I  received  an  order  to  report  at 
once  to  Dr.  Ludwig  Zimmern,  Chief  of  the  Eugenic 
Staff. 

The  Chief,  with  whom  I  was  soon  cloistered,  was 
a  man  of  about  sixty  years.  His  face  revealed  a 
greater  degree  of  intelligence  than  I  had  yet  ob- 
served among  the  Germans,  nor  was  his  demeanour 
that  of  haughty  officiousness,  for  a  kindly  warmth 
glowed  in  his  soft  dark  eyes. 

"  I  have  a  report  here,"  said  Dr.  Zimmern,  "  from 
my  Investigator.  He  recommends  that  your  rights 
of  paternity  be  revoked  on  the  grounds  that  he  be- 
lieves yours  to  be  a  case  of  atavistic  radicalism.  In 
short  he  thinks  you  are  rebellious  by  instinct,  and 
that  you  are  therefore  unsafe  to  father  the  coming 
generation.  It  is  part  of  the  function  of  this  office 
to  breed  the  rebellious  instinct  out  of  the  German 
race.  What  have  you  to  say  in  answer  to  these 
charges?  " 

"  I  do  not  want  to  seem  rebellious,"  I  stammered, 
"  but  I  wish  to  be  relieved  of  this  duty." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Zimmern,  "  you  may  be  re- 
lieved. If  you  have  no  objection  I  will  sign  the 
recommendation  as  it  stands." 

Surely,  I  thought,  this  man  does  not  seem  very 
bitter  toward  my  traitorous  instincts. 

Zimmern  smiled  and  eyed  me  curiously.  "  You 
know,"  he  said,  "  that  to  possess  a  thought  and  to 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY        in 

speak  of  it  indiscreetly  are  two  different  things." 
"  Certainly,"  I  replied,  emboldened  by  his  words. 
"  A  man  cannot  do  original  work  in  science  if  he 
possesses  a  mind  that  never  thinks  contrary  to  the 
established  order  of  things." 

The  clerks  in  the  outer  office  must  have  thought 
my  case  a  grievous  one  for  I  was  closeted  with  their 
chief  for  nearly  an  hour.  Though  our  conversation 
was  vague  and  guarded,  I  knew  that  I  had  discov- 
ered in  Dr.  Ludwig  Zimmern,  Chief  of  the  Eugenic 
Staff,  a  man  guilty  himself  of  the  very  crime  of 
possessing  rebellious  instincts  for  which  he  had  de- 
cided me  unfit  to  sire  German  children.  And  when 
I  finally  took  my  leave  I  carried  with  me  his  private 
card  and  an  invitation  to  call  at  his  apartment  to 
continue  our  conversation. 

7 

In  the  weeks  that  followed,  my  acquaintance  with 
the  Chief  of  the  Eugenic  Staff  ripened  rapidly  into 
a  warm  friendship.  The  frank  manner  in  which  he 
revealed  his  dissatisfaction  with  the  state  of  affairs 
in  Germany  pleased  me  greatly.  Zimmern  was  in- 
terested in  my  chemical  researches  and  quickly  com- 
prehended their  importance. 

11  I  know  so  little  of  chemistry,"  he  deplored,  "  yet 
on  it  our  whole  life  hangs.  That  is  why  I  am  so 
glad  of  an  opportunity  to  talk  to  you.  I  do  not 
approve  of  so  much  ignorance  of  each  other's  work 
on  the  part  of  our  scientists.  Our  old  university 
system  was  better.     Then   a   scientist  in  any  field 


ii2         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

knew  something  of  the  science  in  all  fields.  But  now 
we  are  specialized  from  childhood.  Take,  for  ex- 
ample, yourself.  You  are  at  work  on  a  great  prob- 
lem by  which  all  of  our  labour  stands  to  be  undone 
if  you  chemists  do  not  solve  it,  and  yet  you  do  not 
understand  how  we  will  all  be  undone.  I  think  you 
should  know  more  of  what  it  means,  then  you  will 
work  better.     Is  it  not  so?  " 

"  Perhaps,"  I  said,  "  but  I  have  little  time.  I  am 
working  too  hard  now." 

"  Then,"  said  Zimmern,  "  you  should  spend  more 
time  in  pleasure  on  the  Free  Level.  Two  days  ago 
I  conferred  with  the  Emperor's  Advisory  Staff,  and 
I  learned  that  grave  changes  are  threatened.  That 
is  one  reason  I  am  so  interested  in  this  protium 
on  which  you  chemists  are  working.  If  you  do  not 
solve  this  problem  and  replenish  the  food  supply, 
the  Emperor  has  decided  that  the  whole  Free  Level 
with  its  five  million  women  must  be  abolished.  His 
Majesty  will  have  no  half-way  measures.  He  is 
afraid  to  take  part  of  these  women  away,  lest  the 
intellectual  workers  rebel  like  the  labourers  did  in 
the  last  century  when  their  women  were  taken  away 
piecemeal." 

"  But  what  will  His  Majesty  do  with  these  five 
million  women?"  I  inquired,  eagerly  desirous  to 
learn  more. 

"  Do?  What  can  he  do  with  the  women?  "  ex- 
claimed Dr.  Zimmern  in  a  low  pitched  but  vibrant 
voice.  "  He  thinks  he  will  make  workers  of  them. 
He  does  not  seem  to  appreciate  how  specialized  they 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY        113 

are  for  pleasure.  He  will  make  machine  tenders  of 
them  to  relieve  the  workmen,  who  are  to  be  made 
soldiers.  He  would  make  surface  soldiers  out  of 
these  blind  moles  of  the  earth,  put  amber  glasses  on 
them  and  train  them  to  run  on  the  open  ground  and 
carry  the  war  again  into  the  sunlight.  It  is  folly, 
sheer  folly,  and  madness.  His  Majesty,  I  fear, 
reads  too  much  of  old  books.  He  always  was  his- 
torically inclined." 

On  a  later  occasion  Zimmern  gave  me  the  broad 
outlines  of  the  history  of  German  Eugenics. 

"  Our  science  of  applied  Eugenics,"  he  said,  "  be- 
gan during  the  Second  World  War.  Our  scientists 
had  long  known  that  the  same  laws  of  heredity  by 
which  plants  and  animals  had  been  bred  held  true 
with  man,  but  they  had  been  afraid  to  apply  those 
laws  to  man  because  the  religion  of  that  day  taught 
that  men  had  souls  and  that  human  life  was  some- 
thing too  sacred  to  be  supervised  by  science.  But 
William  III  was  a  very  fearless  man,  and  he  called 
the  scientists  together  and  asked  them  to  outline  a 
plan  for  the  perfection  of  the  German  race. 

"  At  first  all  they  advocated  was  that  paternity 
be  restricted  to  the  superior  men.  This  broke  up 
the  old-fashioned  family  where  every  man  chose  his 
own  wife  and  sired  as  many  children  as  he  liked. 
There  were  great  mutterings  about  that,  and  if  we 
had  not  been  at  war,  there  would  have  been  rebel- 
lion. The  Emperor  told  the  people  it  was  a  mili- 
tary necessity.  The  death  toll  of  war  then  was  great 
and  there  was  urgent  need  to  increase  the  birth  rate, 


ii4         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

so  the  people  submitted  and  women  soon  ceased  to 
complain  because  they  could  no  longer  have  individ- 
ual husbands.  The  children  were  supported  by  the 
state,  and  if  they  had  legitimate  fathers  of  the  ap- 
proved class  they  were  left  in  the  mothers'  care. 
As  all  women  who  were  normal  and  healthy  were 
encouraged  to  bear  children,  there  was  a  great  in- 
crease in  the  birth  rate,  which  came  near  resulting 
in  the  destruction  of  the  race  by  starvation. 

"  As  soon  as  a  sufficient  number  of  the  older  gen- 
eration that  had  believed  in  the  religious  significance 
of  the  family  and  marriage  system  had  died  out,  the 
ambitious  eugenists  set  about  to  make  other  reforms. 
The  birth  rate  was  cut  down  by  restricting  the  priv- 
ilege of  motherhood  to  a  selected  class  of  women. 
The  other  women  were  instructed  in  the  arts  of  pleas- 
ing man  and  avoiding  maternity,  and  that  is  where 
we  have  the  origin  of  our  free  women.  In  those 
days  they  were  free  to  associate  with  men  of  all 
classes.  Indeed  any  other  plan  would  at  first  have 
been  impossible. 

11  A  second  fault  was  that  the  superior  men  for 
whom  paternity  was  permitted  were  selected  from 
the  official  and  intellectual  classes.  The  result  was 
that  the  quality  of  the  labourers  deteriorated.  So 
two  strains  were  established,  the  one  for  the  pro- 
duction of  the  intellectual  workers,  and  the  other 
for  producing  manual  workers.  From  time  to  time 
this  specialization  has  increased  until  now  we  have 
as  many  strains  of  inheritance  as  there  are  groups 
of  useful  characteristics  known  to  be  hereditary. 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY        115 

"  We  have  produced  some  effects,"  mused  Zim- 
mern,  "  which  were  not  anticipated,  and  which  have 
been  calling  forth  considerable  criticism.  His  Maj- 
esty sends  me  memorandums  nearly  every  year,  after 
he  reviews  the  maternity  levels,  insisting  that  the 
feminine  beauty  of  the  race  is,  as  a  whole,  deteriorat- 
ing. And  yet  this  is  logical  enough.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  our  small  actor-model  strain,  the  charac- 
teristics for  which  we  breed  have  only  the  most  inci- 
dental relation  to  feminine  beauty.  The  type  of  the 
labour  female  is,  as  you  have  seen,  a  buxom,  fleshly 
beauty;  youth  and  full  nutrition  are  essential  to  its 
display,  and  it  soon  fades.  In  the  scientific  strains 
it  seems  that  the  power  of  original  thought  corre- 
lates with  a  feminine  type  that  is  certainly  not  beau- 
tiful. Doubtless  not  understanding  this  you  may 
have  felt  that  you  were  discriminated  against  in  your 
assignment.  But  the  clerical  mind  with  its  passion 
for  monotonous  repetition  of  petty  mental  processes 
seems  to  correlate  with  the  most  exquisite  and  re- 
fined feminine  features.  Those  scintillating  beau- 
ties on  the  Free  Level  who  have  ever  at  their  beck 
our  wisest  men  are  from  our  clerical  strain, —  but  of 
course  they  are  only  the  rejects.  It  is  unfortunate 
that  you  cannot  see  the  more  privileged  specimens  in 
the  clerical  maternity  level. 

"  But  I  digress  to  that  which  is  of  no  consequence. 
The  beauty  of  women  is  unimportant  but  the  num- 
ber of  women  is  very  important.  When  some 
women  were  specialized  for  motherhood  then  there 
were  surplus  women.     At  first  they  made  workers  of 


n6         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

them.  The  war  was  then  conducted  on  a  larger 
scaje  than  now.  We  had  not  yet  fully  specialized 
the  soldier  class.  All  the  young  men  went  to  war; 
and,  when  they  came  back  and  went  to  work,  they 
became  bitterly  jealous  of  the  women  workers  and 
made  an  outcry  that  those  who  could  not  fight  should 
not  work.  The  men  workers  drove  the  women 
from  industry,  hoping  thereby  each  to  possess  a  mis- 
tress. As  a  result  the  great  number  of  unproductive 
women  was  a  drain  upon  the  state.  All  sorts  of 
schemes  were  proposed  to  reduce  the  number  of 
female  births  but  most  of  these  were  unscientific. 
In  studying  the  records  it  was  found  that  the  off- 
spring of  certain  men  were  predominantly  males. 
By  applying  this  principle  of  selection  we  have,  with 
successive  generations,  been  able  to  reduce  the  pro- 
portion of  female  births  to  less  than  half  the  old 
rate. 

11  But  the  sexual  impulse  of  the  labourers  made 
them  restless  and  rebellious,  and  the  support  of  the 
free  women  for  these  millions  of  workers  was  a  great 
economic  waste.  When  animals  had  been  bred  to 
large  size  and  great  strength  their  sexuality  had  de- 
creased, while  their  power  as  beasts  of  burden  in- 
creased. The  same  principle  applied  to  man  has 
resulted  in  more  docile  workers.  By  beginning  with 
the  soldiers  and  mine  workers,  who  were  kept  away 
from  women,  and  by  combining  proper  training  with 
the  hereditary  selection,  we  solved  that  problem  and 
removed  all  knowledge  of  women  from  the  minds 
of  the  workmen." 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY       117 

"  But  how  about  paternity  among  the  workers?  " 
I  asked. 

'  Those  who  are  selected  are  removed  to  special 
isolated  quarters.  They  are  told  they  are  being 
taken  to  serve  as  His  Majesty's  body  guard;  and 
they  never  go  back  to  mingle  with  their  fellows." 

I  then  related  for  the  doctor  my  conversation  with 
the  workman  who  asked  me  about  women. 

"  So"  said  Zimmern,  "  there  has  been  a  leak  some- 
where; knowledge  is  hard  to  bottle.  Still  we  have 
bottled  most  of  it  and  the  labourer  accepts  his  love- 
less lot.  But  it  could  not  be  done  with  the  intel- 
lectual worker." 

Dr.  Zimmern  smiled  cynically.  "  At  least,"  he 
added,  "  we  don't  propose  to  admit  that  it  can  be 
done.  And  that,  Col.  Armstadt,  is  what  I  was  re- 
marking about  the  other  evening.  Unless  you  chem- 
ists can  solve  the  protium  problem,  Germany  must 
cut  her  population  swiftly,  if  we  do  not  starve  out 
altogether.  His  Majesty's  plan  to  turn  the  work- 
men into  soldiers  and  make  workers  of  the  free 
women  will  not  solve  it.  It  is  too  serious  for  that. 
The  Emperor's  talk  about  the  day  being  at  hand  is 
all  nonsense.  He  knows  and  we  know  that  these 
mongrel  herds,  as  he  calls  the  outside  enemy,  are 
not  so  degenerate. 

"  We  may  have  improved  the  German  stock  in 
some  ways  by  our  scientific  breeding,  but  science  can- 
not do  much  in  six  generations,  and  what  we  have 
accomplished,  I  as  a  member  of  the  Eugenist  Staff, 
can  assure  you  has  really  been  attained  as  much  by 


n  8         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

training  as  by  breeding,  though  the  breeding  is  given 
the  credit.  Our  men  are  highly  specialized,  and  once 
outside  the  walls  of  Berlin  they  will  find  things  so 
different  that  this  very  specialization  will  prove  a 
handicap.  The  mongrel  peoples  are  more  adapt- 
able. Our  workmen  and  soldiers  are  large  in  phy- 
sique, but  dwarfed  of  intellect.  The  enemy  will 
beat  us  in  open  war,  and,  even  if  we  should  be  vic- 
torious in  war,  we  could  not  rule  them.  Either  we 
solve  this  food  business  or  we  all  turn  soldiers  and 
go  out  into  the  blinding  sunlight  and  die  fighting." 

I  ventured  as  a  wild  remark:  "At  least,  if  we 
get  outside  there  will  be  plenty  of  women." 

The  older  man  locked  at  me  with  the  superiority 
of  age  towards  youth.  "  Young  man,"  he  said, 
"  you  have  not  read  history;  you  do  not  understand 
this  love  and  family  doctrine;  it  exists  in  the  outside 
world  today  just  as  it  did  two  centuries  ago.  The 
Germans  in  the  days  of  the  old  surface  wars  made 
too  free  with  the  enemy's  women,  and  that  is  why 
they  ran  us  into  cover  here  and  penned  us  up. 
These  mongrel  people  will  fight  for  their  women 
when  they  will  fight  for  nothing  else.  We  have  not 
bred  all  the  lust  out  of  our  workmen  either.  It  is 
merely  dormant.  Once  they  are  loosed  in  the  outer 
world  they  will  not  understand  this  thing  and  they 
will  again  make  free  with  the  enemy's  women,  and 
then  we  shall  all  be  exterminated." 

Dr.  Zimmern  got  up  and  filled  a  pipe  with  syn- 
thetic tobacco  and  puffed  energetically  as  he  walked 
about  the  room.      "  What  do  you  say  about  this  pro- 


DRAFTED  FOR  PATERNITY        119 

tium  ore?  "  he  asked;  "  will  you  be  able  to  solve  the 
problem?  " 

11  Yes,"  I  said,  "  I  think  I  shall." 

"  I  hope  so,"  replied  my  host,  "  and  yet  sometimes 
I  do  not  care ;  somehow  I  want  this  thing  to  come  to 
an  end.  I  want  to  see  what  is  outside  there.  I 
think,  perhaps,  I  would  like  to  fly. 

"  What  troubles  me  is  that  I  do  not  see  how  we 
can  ever  do  it.  We  have  bred  and  trained  our  race 
into  specialization  and  stupidity.  We  wouldn't 
know  how  to  go  out  and  join  this  World  State  if 
they  would  let  us." 

Dr.  Zimmern  paced  the  room  in  silence  for  a 
time.  "  Do  you  know,"  he  said,  "  I  should  like  to 
see  a  negro,  a  black  man  with  kinky  hair  —  it  must 
be  queer." 

"  Yes,"  I  answered,  "  there  must  be  many  queer 
things  out  there." 


CHAPTER  VI 

IN  WHICH  I  LEARN  THAT  COMPETITION  IS  STILL  THE 
LIFE  OF  THE  OLDEST  TRADE  IN  THE  WORLD 


WHEN  I  told  Dr.  Zimmern  that  I  should 
solve  the  problem  of  the  increase  of  the 
supply  of  protium  I  may  have  been  guilty 
of  speaking  of  hopes  as  if  they  were  certainties.  My 
optimism  was  based  on  the  discovery  that  the  exact 
chemical  state  of  the  protium  in  the  ore  was  un- 
known, and  that  it  did  not  exist  equally  in  all  sam- 
ples of  the  ore. 

After  some  further  months  of  labour  I  succeeded 
in  determining  the  exact  chemical  ingredients  of  the 
ore,  and  from  this  I  worked  rapidly  toward  a  new 
process  of  extraction  that  would  greatly  increase  the 
total  yield  of  the  precious  element.  But  this  fact  I 
kept  from  my  assistants  whose  work  I  directed  to 
futile  researches  while  I  worked  alone  after  hours 
in  following  up  the  lead  I  had  discovered. 

During  the  progress  of  this  work  I  was  not  al- 
ways in  the  laboratory.  I  had  become  a  not  infre- 
quent visitor  to  the  Level  of  the  Free  Women.  The 
continuous  carnival  of  amusement  had  an  attraction 
for  me,  as  it  must  have  had  for  any  tired  and  lonely 
man.     But  it  was  not  merely  the  lure  of  sensuous 

120 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE 


121 


pleasures  that  appealed  to  me,  for  I  was  also  fasci- 
nated with  the  deeper  and  more  tragic  aspect  of  life 
beneath  the  gaudy  surface  of  hectic  joy. 

Some  generalities  I  had  picked  up  from  observa- 
tion and  chance  conversations.     As  a  primary  es- 
sential to  life  on  the  level  I  had  quickly  learned  that 
money  was  needed,  and  my  check  book  was  in  fre- 
quent demand.     The  bank  provided  an  aluminum 
currency  for  the  pettier  needs  of  the   recreational 
hie,  but  neither  the  checks  nor  the  currency  had  had 
value  on  other  levels,  since  there  all  necessities  were 
supplied  without  cost  and  luxuries  were  unobtain- 
able.    This  strange  retention  of  money  circulation 
and  general  freedom  of  personal  conduct  exclusively 
on  the  Free  Level  puzzled  me.     Thus  I  found  that 
lood  and  drink  were  here  available  for  a  price    a 
seeming  contradiction  to  the  strict  limitations  of  the 
diet  served  me   at  my  own  quarters.     At   first   it 
seemed    I    had   discovered    a    way   to    defeat    that 
limitation —  but  there  was  the  weigher  to  be  con- 
sidered. 

It  was  a  queer  ensemble,  this  life  in  the  Black 
Utopia  of  Berlin,  a  combination  of  a  world  of  rigid 
mechanistic  automatism  in  the  regular  routine  of 
living  with  rioting  individual  license  in  recreational 
pleasure.  The  Free  Level  seemed  some  ancient 
Bagdad,  some  Bourbon  Court,  some  Monte  Carlo  set 
here,  an  oasis  of  flourishing  vice  in  a  desert  of  sterile 
law-made,  machine-executed  efficiency  and  puritan- 
ically  ordered  life.  Aided  by  a  hundred  ingenious 
wheels  and  games  of  chance,  men  and  women  gam- 


122         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

bled  with  the  coin  and  credit  of  the  level.  These 
games  were  presided  over  by  crafty  women  whose 
years  were  too  advanced  to  permit  of  a  more  per- 
sonal means  of  extracting  a  living  from  the  grosser 
passions  of  man.  Some  of  these  aged  dames  were, 
I  found,  quite  highly  regarded  and  their  establish- 
ments had  become  the  rendezvous  for  many  younger 
women  who  by  some  arrangement  that  I  could  not 
fathom  plied  their  traffic  in  commercialized  love  un- 
der the  guidance  of  these  subtler  women  who  had 
graduated  from  the  school  of  long  experience  in 
preying  upon  man. 

But  only  the  more  brilliant  women  could  so  estab- 
lish themselves  for  the  years  of  their  decline.  There 
were  others,  many  others,  whose  beauty  had  faded 
without  an  increase  in  wit,  and  these  seemed  to  be 
serving  their  more  fortunate  sisters,  both  old  and 
young,  in  various  menial  capacities.  It  was  a 
strange  anachronism  in  this  world  where  men's  more 
weighty  affairs  had  been  so  perfectly  socialized,  to 
find  woman  retaining,  evidently  by  men's  permis- 
sion, the  individualistic  right  to  exploit  her  weaker 
sister. 

The  thing  confounded  me,  and  yet  I  recalled  the 
well  known  views  of  our  sociological  historians  who 
held  that  it  was  woman's  greater  individualism  that 
had  checked  the  socialistic  tendencies  of  the  world. 
Had  the  Germans  then  achieved  and  maintained 
their  rigid  socialistic  order  by  retaining  this  incon* 
gruous  vestige  of  feminine  commercialism  as  a  safety 
valve  for  the  individualistic  instincts  of  the  race? 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  123 

They  called  it  the  Free  Level,  and  I  marvelled  at 
the  nature  of  this  freedom.  Freedom  for  licentious- 
ness, for  the  getting  and  losing  of  money  at  the 
wheels  of  fortune,  freedom  for  temporary  gluttony 
and  the  mild  intoxication  of  their  flat,  ill-flavoured 
synthetic  beer.  A  tragic  symbol  it  seemed  to  me  of 
the  ignobility  of  man's  nature,  that  he  will  be  a  slave 
in  all  the  loftier  aspects  of  living  if  he  can  but  re- 
tain his  freedom  for  his  vices  and  corruptions.  Had 
the  Germans  then,  like  the  villain  of  the  moral  play, 
a  necessary  part  in  the  tragedy  of  man;  did  they  exist 
to  show  the  other  races  of  the  earth  the  way  they 
should  not  go?  But  the  philosophy  of  this  concep- 
tion collapsed  when  I  recalled  that  for  more  than 
a  century  the  world  had  lost  all  sight  of  the  villain 
and  yet  had  not  in  the  least  deteriorated  from  a  lack 
of  the  horrible  example. 

From  these  vaguer  speculations  concerning  the 
Free  Level  of  Berlin  that  existed  like  a  malformed 
vestigial  organ  in  the  body  of  that  socialized  state, 
my  mind  came  back  to  the  more  human,  more  per- 
sonal side  of  the  problem  thus  presented  me.  I 
wanted  to  know  more  of  the  lives  of  these  women 
who  maintained  Germany's  remnant  of  individual- 
ism. 

To  what  extent,  I  asked  myself,  have  the  true  in- 
stincts of  womanhood  and  the  normal  love  of  man 
and  child  been  smothered  out  of  the  lives  of  these 
girls?  What  secret  rebellions  are  they  nursing  in 
their  hearts?  I  wondered,  too,  from  what  source 
they  came,  and  why  they  were  selected  for  this  life, 


i24         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

for  Zimmern  had  not  adequately  enlightened  me  on 
this  point. 

Pondering  thus  on  the  secret  workings  in  the 
hearts  of  these  girls,  I  sat  one  evening  amid  the 
sensuous  beauty  of  the  Hall  of  Flowers.  I  mar- 
velled at  how  little  the  Germans  seemed  to  appre- 
ciate it,  for  it  was  far  less  crowded  than  were  the 
more  tawdry  places  of  revelry.  Here  within  glass 
encircling  walls,  preserved  through  centuries  of  arti- 
ficial existence,  feeding  from  pots  of  synthetic  soil 
and  stimulated  by  perpetual  light,  marvellous  botan- 
ical creations  flourished  and  flowered  in  prodigal  pro- 
fusion. Ponderous  warm-hued  lilies  floated  on  the 
sprinkled  surface  of  the  fountain  pool.  Orchids, 
dangling  from  the  metal  lattice,  hung  their  sensuous 
blossoms  in  vapour-laden  air.  Luxurious  vines,  cli- 
matized  to  this  unreal  world,  clambered  over  cosy 
arbours,  or  clung  with  gripping  fingers  to  the  mossy 
concrete  pillars. 


I  was  sitting  thus  in  moody  silence  watching  the 
play  of  the  fountain,  when,  through  the  mist,  I  saw 
the  lonely  figure  of  a  girl  standing  in  the  shadows 
of  a  viny  bower.  She  was  toying  idly  with  the  sway- 
ing tendrils.  Her  hair  was  the  unfaded  gold  of 
youth.  Her  pale  dress  of  silvery  grey,  unmarred 
by  any  clash  of  colour,  hung  closely  about  a  form 
of  wraith-like  slenderness. 

I  arose  and  walked  slowly  toward  her.     As  I  ap- 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  125 

proached  she  turned  toward  me  a  face  of  flawless 
girlish  beauty,  and  then  as  quickly  turned  away  as  if 
seeking  a  means  of  escape. 

"  I  did  not  mean  to  intrude,"  I  said. 

She  did  not  answer,  but  when  I  turned  to  go,  to 
my  surprise,  she  stepped  forward  and  walked  at  my 
side. 

"  Why  do  you  come  here  alone?  "  she  asked  shyly, 
lifting  a  pensive  questioning  face. 

"  Because  I  am  tired  of  all  this  tawdry  noise. 
But  you,"  I  said,  "  surely  you  are  not  tired  of  it? 
You  cannot  have  been  here  long." 

"  No,"  she  replied,  "  I  have  not.  Only  thirty 
days";  and  her  blue  eyes  gleamed  with  childish 
pride. 

"  And  that  is  why  you  seem  so  different  from 
them  all?" 

Timidly  she  placed  her  hand  upon  my  arm.  "  So 
you,"  she  said  gratefully,  "  you  understand  that  I 
am  not  like  them  —  that  is,  not  yet." 

"  You  do  not  act  like  them,"  I  replied,  "  and 
what  is  more,  you  act  as  if  you  did  not  want  to  be 
like  them.  It  surely  cannot  be  merely  that  you  are 
new  here.  The  other  girls  when  they  come  seem  so 
eager  for  this  life,  to  which  they  have  long  been 
trained.     Were  you  not  trained  for  it  also?  " 

"  Yes,"  she  admitted,  "  they  tried  to  train  me  for 
it,  but  they  could  not  kill  my  artist's  soul,  for  I  was 
not  like  these  others,  born  of  a  strain  wherein  women 
can  only  be  mothers,  or,  if  rejected  for  that,  come 


126         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

here.  I  was  born  to  be  a  musician,  a  group  where 
women  may  be  something  more  than  mere  females." 

"  Then  why  are  you  here?  "  I  asked. 

"  Because,"  she  faltered,  "  my  voice  was  imper- 
fect. I  have,  you  see,  the  soul  of  an  artist  but  lack 
the  physical  means  to  give  that  soul  expression. 
And  so  they  transferred  me  to  the  school  for  free 
women,  where  I  have  been  courted  by  the  young 
men  of  the  Royal  House.  But  of  course  you  un- 
derstand all  that." 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  I  know  something  of  it;  but  my 
work  has  always  so  absorbed  me  that  I  have  not  had 
time  to  think  of  these  matters.  In  fact,  I  come  to 
the  Free  Level  much  less  than  most  men." 

For  a  moment,  it  seemed,  her  eyes  hardened  in 
cunning  suspicion,  but  as  I  returned  her  intent  gaze 
I  could  fathom  only  the  doubts  and  fears  of  childish 
innocence. 

"  Please  let  us  sit  down,"  I  said;  "  it  is  so  beau- 
tiful here;  and  then  tell  me  all  about  yourself,  how 
you  have  lived  your  childhood,  and  what  your  prob- 
lems are.     It  may  be  that  I  can  help  you." 

"  There  is  not  much  to  tell,"  she  sighed,  as  she 
seated  herself  beside  me.  "  I  was  only  eight  years 
old  when  the  musical  examiners  condemned  my  voice 
and  so  I  do  not  remember  much  about  the  music 
school.  In  the  other  school  where  they  train  girls 
for  the  life  on  the  Free  Level,  they  taught  us  dancing, 
and  how  to  be  beautiful,  and  always  they  told  us 
that  we  must  learn  these  things  so  that  the  men 
would  love  us.      But  the  only  men  we  ever  saw  were 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  127 

the  doctors.  They  were  always  old  and  serious  and 
I  could  not  understand  how  I  could  ever  love  men. 
But  our  teachers  would  tell  us  tnat  the  other  men 
would  be  different.  They  would  be  handsome  and 
young  and  would  dance  with  us  and  bring  us  line 
presents.  If  we  were  pleasing  in  their  sight  they 
would  take  us  away,  and  we  should  each  have  an 
apartment  of  our  own,  and  many  dresses  with  beau- 
tiful colours,  and  there  would  be  a  whole  level  full 
of  wonderful  things  and  we  could  go  about  as  we 
pleased,  and  dance  and  feast  and  all  life  would  be 
love  and  joy  and  laughter. 

"  Then,  on  the  '  Great  Day,'  when  we  had  our 
first  individual  dresses  —  for  before  we  had  always 
worn  uniforms  —  the  men  came.  They  were  young 
military  officers  and  members  of  the  Royal  House 
who  are  permitted  to  select  girls  for  their  own  ex- 
clusive love.  We  were  all  very  shy  at  first,  but  many 
of  the  girls  made  friends  with  the  men  and  some  of 
them  went  away  that  first  day.  And  after  that  the 
men  came  as  often  as  they  liked  and  I  learned  to 
dance  with  them,  and  they  made  love  to  me  and 
told  me  I  was  very  beautiful.  Yet  somehow  I  did 
not  want  to  go  with  them.  We  had  been  told  that 
we  would  love  the  men  who  loved  us.  I  don't  know 
why,  but  I  didn't  love  any  of  them.  And  so  the 
two  years  passed  and  they  told  me  I  must  come  here 
alone.     And  so  here  I  am." 

"  And  now  that  you  are  here,"  I  said,  "  have  you 
not,  among  all  these  men  found  one  that  you  could 
love?" 


128         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

"  No,"  she  said,  with  a  tremor  in  her  voice,  "'  but 
they  say  I  must." 

"  And  how,"  I  asked,  "  do  they  enforce  that 
rule  ?  Does  any  one  require  you  —  to  accept  the 
men?" 

"Yes,"  she  replied.  "I  must  do  that  —  or 
starve." 

"  And  how  do  you  live  now?  "  I  asked. 

"  They  gave  me  money  when  I  came  here,  a  hun- 
dred marks.  And  they  make  me  pay  to  eat  and 
when  my  money  is  gone  I  cannot  eat  unless  I  get 
more.  And  the  men  have  all  the  money,  and  they 
pay.  They  have  offered  to  pay  me,  but  I  refused 
to  take  their  checks,  and  they  think  me  stupid." 

The  child-like  explanation  of  her  lot  touched  the 
strings  of  my  heart.  "  And  how  long,"  I  asked,  "  is 
this  money  that  is  given  you  when  you  come  here 
supposed  to  last?  " 

"  Not  more  than  twenty  days,"  she  answered. 

"  But  you,"  I  said,  "  have  been  here  thirty  days !  " 

She  looked  at  me  and  smiled  proudly.  "  But  I," 
she  said,  "  only  eat  one  meal  a  day.  Do  you  not  see 
how  thin  I  am?  " 

The  realization  that  any  one  in  this  scientifically 
fed  city  could  be  hungry  was  to  me  appalling.  Yet 
here  was  a  girl  living  amidst  luxurious  beauty,  upon 
whom  society  was  using  the  old  argument  of  hunger 
to  force  her  acceptance  of  the  love  of  man. 

I  rose  and  held  out  my  hand.  "  You  shall  eat 
again  today,"  I  said. 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  129 

"  I  would  rather  not,"  she  demurred.  "  I  have 
not  yet  accepted  favours  from  any  man." 

"  But  you  must.  You  are  hungry,"  I  protested. 
"  The  problem  of  your  existence  here  cannot  be  put 
off  much  longer.  We  will  go  eat  and  then  we  will 
try  and  find  some  solution." 

Without  further  objection  she  walked  with  me. 
We  found  a  secluded  booth  in  a  dining  hall.  I  or- 
dered the  best  dinner  that  Berlin  had  to  offer. 

During  the  intervals  of  silence  in  our  rather  halt- 
ing dinner  conversation,  I  wrestled  with  the  situa- 
tion. I  had  desired  to  gain  insight  into  the  lives  of 
these  girls.  Yet  now  that  the  opportunity  was 
presented  I  did  not  altogether  relish  the  role  in 
which  it  placed  me.  The  apparent  innocence  of  the 
confiding  girl  seemed  to  open  an  easy  way  for  a  per- 
sonal conquest  —  and  yet,  perhaps  because  it  was  so 
obvious  and  easy,  I  rebelled  at  the  unfairness  of  it. 
To  rescue  her,  to  aid  her  to  escape  —  in  a  free  world 
one  might  have  considered  these  more  obvious 
moves,  but  here  there  was  no  place  for  her  to  escape 
to,  no  higher  social  justice  to  which  appeal  could  be 
made.  Either  I  must  accept  her  as  a  personal  re- 
sponsibility, with  what  that  might  involve,  or  desert 
her  to  her  fate.  Both  seemed  cowardly  —  yet  such 
were  the  horns  of  the  dilemma  and  a  choice  must  be 
made.  Here  at  least  was  an  opportunity  to  make 
use  of  the  funds  that  lay  in  the  bank  to  the  credit  of 
the  name  I  bore,  and  for  which  I  had  found  so  little 
use.     So  I  decided  to  offer  her  money,  and  to  insist 


130         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

that  it  was  not  offered  as  the  purchase  price  of  love. 

"  You  must  let  me  help  you,"  I  said,  "  you  must 
let  me  give  you  money." 

"  But  I  do  not  want  your  money,"  she  replied. 
"  It  would  only  postpone  my  troubles.  Even  if  I 
do  accept  your  money,  I  would  have  to  accept  money 
from  other  men  also,  for  you  cannot  pay  for  the 
whole  of  a  woman's  living." 

"  Why  not,"  I  asked,  "  does  any  rule  forbid  it?  " 

"  No  rule,  but  can  so  young  a  man  as  you  afford 
it?." 

"  How  much  does  it  take  for  you  to  live  here?  " 

"  About  five  marks  a  day." 

I  glanced  rather  proudly  at  my  insignia  as  a  re- 
search chemist  of  the  first  rank.  "  Do  you  know," 
I  asked,  "  how  much  income  that  insignia  carries?  " 

"  Well,  no,"  she  admitted,  "  I  know  the  income  of 
military  officers,  but  there  are  so  many  of  the  profes- 
sional ranks  and  classes  that  I  get  all  n  'xed  up." 

"  That  means,"  I  said,  "  ten  thousand  marks  a 
year." 

"  So  much  as  that !  "  she  exclaimed  in  astonish- 
ment. "  And  I  can  live  here  on  two  hundred  a 
month,  but  no,  I  did  not  mean  that  —  you  wouldn't, 
—  I  couldn't  —  let  you  give  me  so  much." 

"Much!"  I  exclaimed;  "you  may  have  five 
hundred  if  you  need  it." 

"  You  make  love  very  nicely,"  she  replied  with 
Aloofness. 

"  But  I  am  not  making  love,"  I  protested. 

"Then  why  do  you  say  these  things?     Do  you 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  131 

prefer  some  one  else?  If  so  why  waste  your  funds 
on  mer 

"  No,  no!  "  I  cried,  "  it  is  not  that;  but  you  see 
I  want  to  tell  you  things;  many  things  that  you  do 
not  know.  I  want  to  see  you  often  and  talk  to 
you.  I  want  to  bring  you  books  to  read.  And  as 
for  money,  that  is  so  you  will  not  starve  while  you 
read  my  books  and  listen  to  me  talk.  But  you  are 
to  remain  mistress  of  your  own  heart  and  your  own 
person.  You  see,  I  believe  there  are  ways  to  win  a 
woman's  love  far  better  than  buying  her  cheap  when 
she  is  starved  into  selling  in  this  brutal  fashion." 

She  looked  at  me  dubiously.  "  You  are  either 
very  queer,"  she  said,  "  or  else  a  very  great  liar." 

"  But  I  am  neither,"  I  protested,  piqued  that  the 
girl  in  her  innocence  should  yet  brand  me  either  men- 
tally deficient  or  deceitful.  "  It  is  impossible  to 
make  you  understand  me,"  I  went  on,  "  and  yet  you 
must  trust  me.  These  other  men,  they  approve  the 
system  under  which  you  live,  but  I  do  not.  I  offer 
you  money,  I  insist  on  your  taking  it  because  there 
is  no  other  way,  but  it  is  not  to  force  you  to  accept 
me  but  only  to  make  it  unnecessary  for  you  to  accept 
some  one  else.  You  have  been  very  brave,  to  stand 
out  so  long.  You  must  accept  my  money  now,  but 
you  need  never  accept  me  at  all  —  unless  you  really 
want  me.  If  I  am  to  make  love  to  you  I  want  to 
make  love  to  a  woman  who  is  really  free;  a  woman 
free  to  accept  or  reject  love,  not  starved  into  accept- 
ing it  in  this  so-called  freedom." 

"  It  is  all  very  wonderful,"  she  repeated;  "  a  min- 


132  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

ute  ago  I  thought  you  deceitful,  and  now  I  want  to 
believe  you.  I  can  not  stand  out  much  longer  and 
what  would  be  the  use  for  just  a  few  more  days?  " 

"  There  will  be  no  need,"  I  said  gently,  "  your 
courage  has  done  its  work  well  —  it  has  saved  you 
for  yourself.  And  now,"  I  continued,  "  we  will 
bind  this  bargain  before  you  again  decide  me  crazy." 

Taking  out  my  check  book  I  filled  in  a  check  for 
two  hundred  marks  payable  to  — "  To  whom  shall 
I  make  it  payable?"  I  asked. 

"  To  Bertha,  34  R  6,"  she  said,  and  thus  I  wrote 
it,  cursing  the  prostituted  science  and  the  devils  of 
autocracy  that  should  give  an  innocent  girl  a  number 
like  a  convict  in  a  jail  or  a  mare  in  a  breeder's  herd 
book. 

And  so  I  bought  a  German  girl  with  a  German 
check  —  bought  her  because  I  saw  no  other  way  to 
save  her  from  being  lashed  by  starvation  to  the 
slave  block  and  sold  piecemeal  to  men  in  whom  hon- 
our had  not  even  died,  but  had  been  strangled  before 
it  was  born. 

With  my  check  neatly  tucked  in  her  bosom,  Bertha 
walked  out  of  the  cafe  clinging  to  my  arm,  and  so, 
passing  unheeding  through  the  throng  of  indifferent 
revellers,  we  came  to  her  apartment. 

At  the  door  I  said,  "  Tomorrow  night  I  come 
again.      Shall  it  be  at  the  cafe  or  here?  " 

"  Here,"  she  whispered,  "  away  from  them  all." 

I  stooped  and  kissed  her  hand  and  then  fled  into 
the  multitude. 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  133 

3 

I  had  promised  Bertha  that  I  would  bring  her 
books,  but  the  narrow  range  of  technical  books  per- 
mitted me  were  obviously  unsuitable,  nor  did  I  feel 
that  the  unspeakably  morbid  novels  available  on 
the  Level  of  Free  Women  would  serve  my  pur- 
pose of  awakening  the  girl  to  more  wholesome  as- 
pirations. In  this  emergency  I  decided  to  appeal 
to  my  friend,  Zimmern. 

Leaving  the  laboratory  early,  I  made  my  way 
toward  his  apartment,  puzzling  my  brain  as  to 
what  kind  of  a  book  I  could  ask  for  that  would  be 
at  once  suitable  to  Bertha's  childlike  mind  and  also 
be  a  volume  which  I  could  logically  appear  to  wish  to 
read  myself.  As  I  walked  along  the  answer 
flashed  into  my  mind  —  I  would  ask  for  a  geography 
of  the  outer  world. 

Happily  I  found  Zimmern  in.  "  I  have  come  to 
ask,"  I  said,  "  if  you  could  loan  me  a  book  of 
description  of  the  outer  world,  one  with  maps,  one 
that  tells  all  that  is  known  of  the  land  and  seas 
and  people." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  smiled  Zimmern,  "  you  mean  a  geog- 
raphy. Your  request,"  he  continued,  "  does  me 
great  honour.  Books  telling  the  truth  about  the 
world  without  are  very  carefully  guarded.  I  shall 
be  pleased  to  get  the  geography  for  you  at  once. 
In  fact  I  had  already  decided  that  when  you  came 
again  I  would  take  you  with  me  to  our  little  secret 
library.     Germany  is  facing  a   great  crisis,    and  I 


i34         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

know  no  better  way  I  can  serve  her  than  doing  my 
part  to  help  prepare  as  many  as  possible  of  our 
scientists  to  cope  with  the  impending  problems. 
Unless  you  chemists  avert  it,  we  shall  all  live  to 
see  this  outer  world,  or  die  that  others  may." 

Dr  Zimmern  led  the  way  to  the  elevator.  We 
alighted  on  the  Level  of  Free  Women.  Instead 
of  turning  towards  the  halls  of  revelry  we  took 
our  course  in  the  opposite  direction  along  the  quiet 
streets  among  the  apartments  of  the  women.  We 
turned  into  a  narrow  passage-way  and  Dr.  Zimmern 
rang  the  bell  at  an  apartment  door.  But  after 
waiting  a  moment  for  an  answer  he  took  a  key  from 
his  pocket  and  unlocked  the  door. 

"  I  am  sorry  Marguerite  is  out,"  he  said,  as  he 
conducted  me  into  a  reception  room.  The  walls 
were  hung  with  seal-brown  draperies.  There  were 
richly  upholstered  chairs  and  a  divan  piled  high  with 
fluffy  pillows.  In  one  corner  stood  a  bookcase  of 
burnished  metal  filigree. 

Zimmern  waved  his  hand  at  the  case  with  an  ex- 
pression of  disdain.  "  Only  the  conventional  liter- 
ature of  the  level,  to  keep  up  appearances,"  he  said; 
"our  serious  books  are  in  here";  and  he  thrust 
open  the  door  of  a  room  which  was  evidently  a 
young  lady's   boudoir. 

Conscious  of  a  profane  intrusion,  I  followed  Dr. 
Zimmern  into  the  dainty  dressing  chamber.  Step- 
ping across  the  room  he  pushed  open  a  spacious 
wardrobe,  and  thursting  aside  a  cleverly  arranged 
shield  of  feminine  apparel  he  revealed,  upon  some 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  135 

improvised  shelves,  a  library  of  perhaps  a  hundred 
volumes.  He  ran  his  hand  fondly  along  the  bind- 
ings. "  No  other  man  of  your  age  in  Berlin,"  he 
said,  "  has  ever  had  access  to  such  a  complete  fund 
of  knowledge  as  is  in  this  library." 

I  hope  the  old  doctor  took  for  appreciation  the 
smile  that  played  upon  my  face  as  I  contrasted  his 
pitiful  offering  with  the  endless  miles  of  book 
stacks  in  the  libraries  of  the  outer  world  where  I 
had  spent  so  many  of  my  earlier  days. 

"  Our  books  are  safer  here,"  said  Zimmern,  "  for 
no  one  would  suspect  a  girl  on  this  level  of  being  in- 
terested in  serious  reading.  If  perchance  some  in- 
spector did  think  to  perform  his  neglected  duties 
we  trust  to  him  being  content  to  glance  over  the  few 
novels  in  the  case  outside  and  not  to  pry  into  her 
wardrobe  closet.  There  is  still  some  risk,  but  that 
we  must  take,  since  there  is  no  absolute  privacy 
anywhere.  We  must  trust  to  chance  to  hide  them  in 
the  place  least  likely  to  be  searched." 

"  And  how,"  I  asked,  "  are  these  books  accumu- 
lated?" 

"  It  is  the  result  of  years  of  effort,"  explained 
Zimmern.  "  There  are  only  a  few  of  us  who  are 
in  this  secret  group  but  all  have  contributed  to  the 
collection,  and  we  come  here  to  secure  the  books 
that  the  others  bring.  We  prefer  to  read  them 
here,  and  so  avoid  the  chance  of  being  detected 
carrying  forbidden  books.  There  is  no  restriction 
on  the  callers  a  girl  may  have  at  her  apartment;  the 
authorities  of  the  level  are  content  to  keep  records 


136         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

only  of  her  monetary  transactions,  and  that  fact  we 
take  advantage  of.  Should  a  man's  apartment  on 
another  level  be  so  frequently  visited  by  a  group  of 
men  an  inquiry  would  be  made." 

All  this  was  interesting,  but  I  inferred  that  I 
would  again  have  opportunity  to  visit  the  library  and 
now  I  was  impatient  to  keep  my  appointment  with 
Bertha.  Making  an  excuse  for  haste,  I  asked  Zim- 
mern  to  get  the  geography  for  me.  The  stiff  back 
of  the  book  had  been  removed,  and  Zimmern  helped 
me  adjust  the  limp  volume  beneath  my  waistcoat. 

"  I  am  sorry  you  cannot  remain  and  meet  Mar- 
guerite tonight,"  he  said  as  I  stepped  toward  the 
door.  "  But  tomorrow  evening  I  will  arrange  for 
you  to  meet  Colonel  Hellar  of  the  Information 
Staff,  and  Marguerite  can  be  with  us  then.  You 
may  go  directly  to  my  booth  in  the  cafe  where  you 
last  dined  with  me." 


After  a  brief  walk  I  came  to  Bertha's  apartment, 
and  nervously  pressed  the  bell.  She  opened  the 
door  stealthily  and  peered  out,  then  recognizing  me, 
she  flung  it  wide. 

"  I  have  brought  you  a  book,"  I  said  as  I  en- 
tered; and,  not  knowing  what  else  to  do,  I  went 
through  the  ridiculous  operation  of  removing  the 
geography  from  beneath  my  waistcoat. 

"  What  a  big  book,"  exclaimed  Bertha  in  amaze- 
ment.    However,  she  did  not  open  the  geography 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  137 

but  laid  it  on  the  table,  and  stood  staring  at  me 
with  her  child-like  blue  eyes. 

"  Do  you  know,"  she  said,  "  that  you  are  the  first 
visitor  I  ever  had  in  my  apartment?  May  I  show 
you  about?  " 

As  I  followed  her  through  the  cosy  rooms,  I 
chafed  to  see  the  dainty  luxury  in  which  she  was 
permitted  to  live  while  being  left  to  starve.  The 
place  was  as  well  adapted  to  love-making  as  any 
other  product  of  German  science  is  adapted  to  its 
end.  The  walls  were  adorned  with  sensual  prints; 
but  happily  I  recalled  that  Bertha,  having  no  edu- 
cation in  the  matter,  was  immune  to  the  insult. 

Anticipating  my  coming  she  had  ordered  dinner, 
and  this  was  presently  delivered  by  a  deaf-and-dumb 
mechanical  servant,  and  we  set  it  forth  on  the  dainty 
dining  table.  Since  the  world  was  young,  I  mused, 
woman  and  man  had  eaten  a  first  meal  together 
with  all  the  world  shut  out,  and  so  we  dined  amid 
shy  love  and  laughter  in  a  tiny  apartment  in  the 
heart  of  a  city  where  millions  of  men  never  saw 
the  face  of  woman  —  and  where  millions  of  babies 
were  born  out  of  love  by  the  cold  degree  of  science. 
And  this  same  science,  bartering  with  licentious 
iniquity,  had  provided  this  refuge  and  permitted  us 
to  bar  the  door,  and  so  we  accepted  our  refuge 
and  sanctified  it  with  the  purity  that  was  within  our 
own  hearts  —  such  at  least  was  my  feeling  at  the 
time. 

And  so  we  dined  and  cleared  away,  and  talked 
joyfully  of  nothing.     As  the  evening  wore  on  Ber- 


138         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

tha,  beside  me  upon  the  divan,  snuggled  contentedly 
against  my  shoulder.  The  nearness  and  warmth  of 
her,  and  the  innocence  of  her  eyes  thrilled  yet  mad- 
dened me. 

With  fast  beating  heart,  I  realized  that  I  as 
well  as  Bertha  was  in  the  grip  of  circumstances 
against  which  rebellion  was  as  futile  as  were 
thoughts  of  escape.  There  was  no  one  to  aid  and 
no  one  to  forbid  or  criticize.  Whatever  I  might 
do  to  save  her  from  the  fate  ordained  for  her 
would  of  necessity  be  worked  out  between  us,  un- 
aided and  unhampered  by  the  ethics  of  civilization 
as  I  had  known  it  in  a  freer,  saner  world. 

In  offering  Bertha  money  and  coming  to  her  apart- 
ment I  had  thrust  myself  between  her  and  the  crass 
venality  of  the  men  of  her  race,  but  I  had  now  to 
wrestle  with  the  problem  that  such  action  had  in- 
volved. If,  I  reasoned,  I  could  only  reveal  to  her 
my  true  identity  the  situation  would  be  easier,  for 
I  could  then  tell  her  of  the  rules  of  the  game  of 
love  in  the  world  I  had  known.  Until  she  knew  of 
that  world  and  its  ideals,  how  could  I  expect  her 
to  understand  my  motives?  How  else  could  I 
strengthen  her  in  the  battle  against  our  own  im- 
pulses? 

And  yet,  did  I  dare  to  confess  to  her  that  I  was 
not  a  German?  Would  not  deep-seated  ideals  of 
patriotism  drilled  into  the  mind  of  a  child  place  me 
in  danger  of  betrayal  at  her  hands?  Such  a  move 
might  place  my  own  life  in  jeopardy  and  also  destroy 
my  opportunity  of  being  of  service  to  the  world, 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  139 

could  I  contrive  the  means  of  escape  from  Berlin 
with  the  knowledge  I  had  gained.  Small  though  the 
possibilities  of  such  escape  might  be,  it  was  too  great 
a  hope  for  me  to  risk  for  sentimental  reasons.  And 
could  she  be  expected  to  believe  so  strange  a  tale? 

And  so  the  temptation  to  confess  that  I  was  not 
Karl  Armstadt  passed,  and  with  its  passing,  I  re- 
called the  geography  that  I  had  gone  to  so  much 
trouble  to  secure,  and  which  still  lay  unopened  upon 
the  table.  Here  at  least  was  something  to  get  us 
away  from  the  tumultuous  consciousness  of  ourselves 
and  1  reached  for  the  volume  and  spread  it  open 
upon  my  knees. 

"What  a  funny  book!"  exclaimed  Bertha,  as 
she  gazed  at  the  round  maps  of  the  two  hemispheres. 
"  Of  what  is  that  a  picture?  " 

"  The  world,"  I  answered. 

She  stared  at  me  blankly.  "The  Royal 
World?  "  she  asked. 

"  No,  no,"  I  replied.  "  The  world  outside  the 
walls  of  Berlin." 

"  The  world  in  the  sun,"  exclaimed  Bertha,  "  on 
the  roof  where  they  fight  the  airplanes?  A  roof- 
guard  officer  "  she  paused  and  bit  her  lip  — 

"  The  world  of  the  inferior  races,"  I  suggested, 
trying  to  find  some  common  footing  with  her  piti- 
fully scant  knowledge. 

"  The  world  underground,"  she  said,  "  where  the 
soldiers  fight  in  the  mines?  " 

Baffled  in  my  efforts  to  define  this  world  to  her, 
I  began  turning  the  pages  of  the  geography,  while 


i4o         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

Bertha  looked  at  the  pictures  in  child-like  wonder, 
and  I  tried  as  best  I  could  to  find  simple  explana- 
tions. 

Between  the  lines  of  my  teaching,  I  scanned,  as  it 
were,  the  true  state  of  German  ignorance.  Despite 
the  evident  intended  authoritativeness  of  the  book 
—  for  it  was  marked  "  Permitted  to  military  staff 
officers  " —  I  found  it  amusingly  full  of  erroneous 
conceptions  of  the  true  state  of  affairs  in  the  outer 
world. 

This  teaching  of  a  child-like  mind  the  rudiments 
of  knowledge  was  an  amusing  recreation,  and  so  an 
hour  passed  pleasantly.  Yet  I  realized  that  this 
was  an  occupation  of  which  I  would  soon  tire,  for 
it  was  not  the  amusement  of  teaching  a  child  that  I 
craved,  but  the  companionship  of  a  woman  of  in- 
telligence. 

As  we  turned  the  last  page  I  arose  to  take  my 
departure.  "  If  I  leave  the  book  with  you,"  I  said, 
"will  you  read  it  all,  very  carefully?  And  then 
when  I  come  again  I  will  explain  those  things  you 
can  not  understand." 

"  But  it  is  so  big,  I  couldn't  read  it  in  a  day," 
replied  Bertha,  as  she  looked  at  me  appealingly. 

I  steeled  myself  against  that  appeal.  I  wanted 
very  much  to  get  my  mind  back  on  my  chemistry, 
and  I  wanted  also  to  give  her  time  to  read  and 
ponder  over  the  wonders  of  the  great  unknown 
world.  Moreover,  I  no  longer  felt  so  grievously 
concerned,  for  the  calamity  which  had  overshadowed 
her  had  been  for  the  while  removed.     And  I  had, 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  141 

too,  my  own  struggle  to  cherish  her  innocence,  and 
that  without  the  usual  help  extended  by  conventional 
society.  So  I  made  brave  resolutions  and  explained 
the  urgency  of  my  work  and  insisted  that  I  could 
not  see  her  for  five  days. 

Hungrily  she  pleaded  for  a  quicker  return;  and 
I  stubbornly  resisted  the  temptation.  "  No,"  I  in- 
sisted, "  not  tomorrow,  nor  the  next  day,  but  I  will 
come  back  in  three  days  at  the  same  hour  that  I 
came  tonight." 

Then  taking  her  in  my  arms,  I  kissed  her  in  fe- 
verish haste  and  tore  myself  from  the  enthralling 
lure  of  her  presence. 

5 

When  I  reached  the  cafe  the  following  evening 
to  keep  my  appointment  with  Zimmern,  the  waiter 
directed  me  to  one  of  the  small  enclosed  booths. 
As  I  entered,  closing  the  door  after  me,  I  found 
myself  confronting  a  young  woman. 

"Are  you  Col.  Armstadt?  "  she  asked  with  a 
clear,  vibrant  voice.  She  smiled  cordially  as  she 
gave  me  her  hand.  "  I  am  Marguerite.  Dr.  Zim- 
mern has  gone  to  bring  Col.  Hellar,  and  he  asked 
me  to  entertain  you  until  his  return." 

The  friendly  candour  of  this  greeting  swept  away 
the  grey  walls  of  Berlin,  and  I  seemed  again  face 
to  face  with  a  woman  of  my  own  people.  She  was 
a  young  woman  of  distinctive  personality.  Her 
features,  though  delicately  moulded,  bespoke  intel- 
ligence and  strength  of  character  that  I  had  not 


142         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

hitherto  seen  in  the  women  of  Berlin.  Framing  her 
face  was  a  luxuriant  mass  of  wavy  brown  hair, 
which  fell  loosely  about  her  shoulders.  Her  slen- 
der figure  was  draped  in  a  cape  of  deep  blue  cellulose 
velvet. 

"  Dr.  Zimmern  tells  me,"  I  said  as  I  seated  my- 
self across  the  table  from  her,  "  that  you  are  a 
dear   friend  of  his." 

A  swift  light  gleamed  in  her  deep  brown  eyes. 
"  A  very  dear  friend,"  she  said  feelingly,  and  then 
a  shadow  flitted  across  her  face  as  she  added, 
"  Without  him  life  for  me  would  be  unbearable 
here." 

"  And  how  long,  if  I  may  ask,  have  you  been 
here?" 

"  About  four  years.  Four  years  and  six  days,  to 
be  exact.  I  can  keep  count  you  know,"  and  she 
smiled  whimsically,  "  for  I  came  on  the  day  of  my 
birth,  the  day  I  was  sixteen." 

"  That  is  the  same  for  all,  is  it  not?  " 

11  No  one  can  come  here  before  she  is  sixteen," 
replied  Marguerite,  "  and  all  must  come  before  they 
are  eighteen." 

"  But  why  did  you  come  at  the  first  oppor- 
tunity?" I  asked,  as  I  mentally  compared  her  con- 
fession with  that  of  Bertha  who  had  so  courage- 
ously postponed  as  long  as  she  could  the  day  of 
surrender  to  this  life  of  shamefully  commercialized 
love. 

"And  why  should  I  not  come?"  returned  Mar- 
guerite.    "  I  had  a  chance  to  come,  and  I  accepted 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  143 

it.  Do  you  think  life  in  the  school  for  girls  of  for- 
bidden birth  is  an  enjoyable  one?" 

I  wanted  to  press  home  the  point  of  my  argument, 
to  proclaim  my  pride  in  Bertha's  more  heroic  strug- 
gle with  the  system,  for  this  girl  with  whom  I  now 
conversed  was  obviously  a  woman  of  superior  intel- 
ligence, and  it  angered  me  to  know  that  she  had 
so  easily  surrendered  to  the  life  for  which  German 
society  had  ordained  her.  But  I  restrained  my 
speech,  for  I  realized  that  in  criticizing  her  way 
of  life  I  would  be  criticizing  her  obvious  relation 
to  Zimmern,  and  like  all  men  I  found  myself 
inclined  to  be  indulgent  with  the  personal  life 
of  a  man  who  was  my  friend.  Moreover,  I  per- 
ceived the  presumptuousness  of  assuming  a  superior 
air  towards  an  established  and  accepted  institution. 
Yet,  strive  as  I  might  to  be  tolerant,  I  felt  a  grow- 
ing antagonism  towards  this  attractive  and  cultured 
girl  who  had  surrendered  without  a  struggle  to  a 
life  that  to  me  was  a  career  of  shame  —  and  who 
seemed  quite  content  with  her  surrender. 

"Do  you  like  it  here?"  I  asked,  knowing  that 
my  question  was  stupid,  but  anxious  to  avoid  a 
painful  gap  in  what  was  becoming,  for  me,  a  difficult 
conversation. 

Marguerite  looked  at  me  with  a  queer  penetrat- 
ing gaze.  "Do  I  like  it  here?"  she  repeated. 
"  Why  should  you  ask,  and  how  can  I  answer?  Can 
I  like  it  or  not  like  it,  when  there  was  no  choice 
for  me?  Can  I  push  out  the  walls  of  Berlin?  " — 
and  she  thrust  mockingly  into  the  air  with  a  deli- 


i44         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

cately  chiselled  hand — "It  is  a  prison.  All  life 
is  a  prison." 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  it  is  a  prison,  but  life  on  this 
level  is  more  joyful  than  on  many  others." 

Her  lip  curled  in  delicate  scorn.  "  For  you  men 
—  of  course  —  and  I  suppose  it  is  for  these  women 
too  —  perhaps  that  is  why  I  hate  it  so,  because  they 
do  enjoy  it,  they  do  accept  it.  They  sell  their  love 
for  food  and  raiment,  and  not  one  in  all  these  mil- 
lions seems  to  mind  it." 

"  In  that,"  I  remarked,  "  perhaps  you  are  mis- 
taken. I  have  not  come  here  often  as  most  men  do, 
but  I  have  found  one  other  who,  like  you,  rebels  at 
the  system  —  who  in  fact,  was  starving  because  she 
would  not  sell  her  love." 

Marguerite  flashed  on  me  a  look  of  pitying  sus- 
picion as  she  asked:  "Have  you  gone  to  the  Place 
of  Records  to  look  up  this  rebel  against  the  sale 
of  love?" 

A  fire  of  resentment  blazed  up  in  me  at  this  ques- 
tion. I  did  not  know  just  what  she  meant  by  the 
Place  of  Records,  but  I  felt  that  this  woman  who 
spoke  cynically  of  rebellion  against  the  sale  of  love, 
and  yet  who  had  obviously  sold  her  love  to  an  old 
man,  was  in  no  position  to  discredit  a  weaker 
woman's  nobler  fight. 

"  What  right,"  I  asked  coldly,  "  have  you  to 
criticize  another  whom  you  do  not  know?  " 

"  I  am  sorry,"  replied  Marguerite,  "  if  I  seem  to 
quarrel  with  you  when  I  was  left  here  to  entertain 
you,  but  I  could  not  help  it  —  it  angers  me  to  have 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  145 

you  men  be  so  fond  of  being  deceived,  such  easy  prey 
to  this  threadbare  story  of  the  girl  who  claims  she 
never  came  here  until  forced  to  do  so.  But  men 
love  to  believe  it.  The  girls  learn  to  use  the  story 
because  it  pays." 

A  surge  of  conflicting  emotion  swept  through  me 
as  I  recalled  the  child-like  innocence  of  Bertha  and 
compared  it  with  the  critical  scepticism  of  this  supe- 
rior woman.  "  It  only  goes  to  show,"  I  thought, 
"  what  such  a  system  can  do  to  destroy  a  woman's 
faith  in  the  very  existence  of  innocence  and  virtue." 

Marguerite  did  not  speak;  her  silence  seemed  to 
say:  "You  do  not  understand,  nor  can  I  explain 
—  I  am  simply  here  and  so  are  you,  and  we  have 
our  secrets  which  cannot  be  committed  to  words." 

With  idle  fingers  she  drummed  lightly  on  the 
table.  I  watched  those  slender  fingers  and  the 
rhythmic  play  of  the  delicate  muscles  of  the  bare 
white  arm  that  protruded  from  the  rich  folds  of  the 
blue  velvet  cape.  Then  my  gaze  lifted  to  her  face. 
Her  downcast  eyes  were  shielded  by  long  curving 
lashes;  high  arched  silken  brows  showed  dark 
against  a  skin  as  fresh  and  free  from  chemist's  pig- 
ment as  the  petal  of  a  rose.  In  exultant  rapture 
my  heart  within  me  cried  that  here  was  something 
fine  of  fibre,  a  fineness  which  ran  true  to  the  depths 
of  her  soul. 

In  my  discovery  of  Bertha's  innocence  and  in  my 
faith  in  her  purity  and  courage  I  had  hoped  to  find 
relief  from  the  spiritual  loneliness  that  had  grown 
upon  me  during  my  sojourn  in  this  materialistic  city. 


146         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

But  that  faith  was  shaken,  as  the  impression  Bertha 
had  made  upon  my  over-sensitized  emotions,  now 
dimmed  by  a  brighter  light,  flickered  pale  on  the 
screen  of  memory.  The  mere  curiosity  and  pity 
I  had  felt  for  a  chance  victim  singled  out  among 
thousands  by  the  legend  of  innocence  on  a  pretty 
face  could  not  stand  against  the  force  that  now 
drew  me  to  this  woman  who  seemed  to  be  not  of  a 
slavish  race  —  even  as  Dr.  Zimmern  seemed  a 
man  apart  from  the  soulless  product  of  the  science 
he  directed.  But  as  I  acknowledged  this  new  mag- 
net tugging  at  the  needle  of  my  floundering  heart, 
I  also  realized  that  my  friendship  for  the  lovable 
and  courageous  Zimmern  reared  an  unassailable 
barrier  to  shut  me  into  outer  darkness. 

The  thought  proved  the  harbinger  of  the  reality, 
for  Dr.  Zimmern  himself  now  entered.  He  was 
accompanied  by  Col.  Hellar  of  the  Information 
Staff,  a  man  of  about  Zimmern's  age.  Col.  Hellar 
bore  himself  with  a  gracious  dignity;  his  face  was 
sad,  yet  there  gleamed  from  his  eye  a  kindly  humour. 

Marguerite,  after  exchanging  a  few  pleasantries 
with  Col.  Hellar  and  myself,  tenderly  kissed  the  old 
doctor  on  the  forehead,  and  slipped  out. 

"  You  shall  see  much  of  her,"  said  Zimmern,  "  she 
is  the  heart  and  fire  of  our  little  group,  the  force 
that  holds  us  together.  But  tonight  I  asked  her  not 
to  remain  " —  the  old  doctor's  eyes  twinkled  with 
merriment, —  "  for  a  young  man  cannot  get  ac- 
quainted with  a  beautiful  woman  and  with  ideas 
at  the  same  time." 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  147 

6 

"  And  now,"  said  Zimmern,  after  we  had  finished 
our  dinner,  "  I  want  Col.  Hellar  to  tell  you  more 
of  the  workings  of  the  Information  Service." 

"  It  is  a  very  complex  system,"  began  Hellar. 
"  It  is  old.  Its  history  goes  back  to  the  First 
World  War,  when  the  military  censorship  began 
by  suppressing  information  thought  to  be  dangerous 
and  circulating  fictitious  reports  for  patriotic  pur- 
poses. Now  all  is  much  more  elaborately  organ- 
ized; we  provide  that  every  child  be  taught  only 
the  things  that  it  is  decided  he  needs  to  know,  and 
nothing  more.  Have  you  seen  the  bulletins  and 
picture  screens  in  the  quarters  for  the  workers?" 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  "  but  the  lines  were  all  in  old 
German  type." 

"  And  that,"  said  Hellar,  "  is  all  that  the  work- 
ers and  soldiers  can  read.  The  modern  type  could 
be  taught  them  in  a  few  days,  but  we  see  to  it  that 
they  have  no  opportunity  to  learn  it.  As  it  is  now, 
should  they  find  or  steal  a  forbidden  book,  they 
cannot  read  it." 

"  But  is  it  not  true,"  I  asked,  "  that  at  one  time 
the  German  workers  were  most  thoroughly  edu- 
cated?" 

"  It  is  true,"  said  Hellar,  "  and  because  of  that 
universal  education  Germany  was  defeated  in  the 
First  World  War.  The  English  contaminated  the 
soldiers  by  flooding  the  trenches  with  democratic 
literature  dropped  from  airplanes.     Then  came  the 


i48         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

Bolshevist  regime  in  Russia  with  its  passion  for  revo- 
lutionary propaganda.  The  working  men  and 
soldiers  read  this  disloyal  literature  and  they  forced 
the  abdication  of  William  the  Great.  It  was  be- 
cause of  this  that  his  great  grandson,  when  the 
House  of  Hohenzollern  was  restored  to  the  throne, 
decided  to  curtail  universal  education. 

"  But  while  William  III  curtailed  general  edu- 
cation he  increased  the  specialized  education  and 
established  the  Information  Staff  to  supervise  the 
dissemination  of  all  knowledge." 

"  It  is  an  atrocious  system,"  broke  in  Zimmern, 
"  but  if  we  had  not  abolished  the  family,  curtailed 
knowledge  and  bred  soldiers  and  workers  from 
special  non-intellectual  strains  this  sunless  world  of 
ours  could  not  have  endured." 

"  Quite  so,"  said  Hellar,  "  whether  we  approve  of 
it  or  not  certainly  there  was  no  other  way  to  ac- 
complish the  end  sought.  By  no  other  plan  could 
German  isolation  have  been  maintained." 

"But  why  was  isolation  deemed  desirable?"  I 
enquired. 

11  Because,"  said  Zimmern,  "  it  was  that  or  ex- 
termination. Even  now  we  who  wish  to  put  an 
end  to  this  isolation,  we  few  who  want  to  see  the 
world  as  our  ancestors  saw  it,  know  that  the  price 
may  be  annihilation." 

11  So,"  repeated  Hellar,  "  so  annihilation  for 
Germany,  but  better  so  —  and  yet  I  go  on  as  Direc- 
tor of  Information;  Dr.  Zimmern  goes  on  as  Chief 
Eugenist;   and  you  go  on  seeking  to  increase  the 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  149 

food  supply,  and  so  we  all  go  on  as  part  of  the  dia- 
bolic system,  because  as  individuals  we  cannot  de- 
stroy it,  but  must  go  on  or  be  destroyed  by 
it.  We  have  riches  here  and  privileges.  We 
keep  the  labourers  subdued  below  us,  Royalty  en- 
throned above  us,  and  the  World  State  at  bay 
about  us,  all  by  this  science  and  system  which  only 
we  few  intellectuals  understand  and  which  we  keep 
going  because  we  can  not  stop  it  without  being  de- 
stroyed by  the  effort." 

"  But  we  shall  stop  it,"  declared  Zimmern,  "  we 
must  stop  it  —  with  Armstadt's  help  we  can  stop 
it.  You  and  I,  Hellar,  are  mere  cogs;  if  we  break 
others  can  take  our  places,  but  Armstadt  has  power. 
What  he  knows  no  one  else  knows.  He  has  power. 
We  have  only  weakness  because  others  can  take  our 
place.  And  because  he  has  power  let  us  help  him 
find  a  way." 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  I  said,  "  that  the  way  must  be 
by  education.     More  men  must  think  as  we  do." 

"  But  they  can  not  think,"  replied  Hellar,  "  they 
have  nothing  to  think  with." 

"  But  the  books,"  I  said,  "  there  is  power  in 
knowledge." 

"  But,"  said  Hellar,  "  the  labourer  can  not  read 
the  forbidden  book  and  the  intellectual  will  not, 
for  if  he  did  he  would  be  afraid  to  talk  about  it, 
and  what  a  man  can  not  talk  about  he  rarely  cares 
to  read.  The  love  or  hatred  of  knowledge  is  a  mat- 
ter of  training.  It  was  only  last  week  that  I  was 
visiting  a  boy's  school  in  order  to  study  the  effect  of 


i5o  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

a  new  reader  of  which  complaint  had  been  made 
that  it  failed  sufficiently  to  exalt  the  virtue  of  obe- 
dience. I  was  talking  with  the  teacher  while  the 
boys  assembled  in  the  morning.  We  heard  a  great 
commotion  and  a  mob  of  boys  came  in  dragging 
one  of  their  companions  who  had  a  bruised  face  and 
torn  clothing.  '  Master,  he  had  a  forbidden  book,' 
they  shouted,  and  the  foremost  held  out  the  tattered 
volume  as  if  it  were  loathsome  poison.  It  proved 
to  be  a  text  on  cellulose  spinning.  Where  the  cul- 
prit had  found  it  we  could  not  discover  but  he  was 
sent  to  the  school  prison  and  the  other  boys  were 
given  favours  for  apprehending  him." 

"  But  how  is  it,"  I  asked,  "  that  books  are  not 
written  by  free-minded  authors  and  secretly  printed 
and  circulated?  " 

At  this  question  my  companions  smiled.  "  You 
chemists  forget,"  said  Hellar,  "  that  it  takes  print- 
ing presses  to  make  books.  There  is  no  press  in 
all  Berlin  except  in  the  shops  of  the  Information 
Staff.  Every  paper,  every  book,  and  every  picture 
originates  and  is  printed  there.  Every  news  and 
book  distributor  must  get  his  stock  from  us  and 
knows  that  he  must  have  only  in  his  possession 
that  which  bears  the  imprint  for  his  level.  That 
is  why  we  have  no  public  libraries  and  no  trade  in 
second-hand  books. 

"  In  early  life  I  favoured  this  system,  but  in  time 
the  foolishness  of  the  thing  came  to  perplex,  then 
to  annoy,  and  finally  to  disgust  me.  But  I  wanted 
the  money  and  honour  that  promotion  brought  and 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  151 

so  I  have  won  to  my  position  and  power;  with  my 
right  hand  I  uphold  the  system  and  with  my  left 
hand  I  seek  to  pull  out  the  props  on  which  it  rests. 
For  twenty  years  now  I  have  nursed  the  secret  traffic 
in  books  and  risked  my  life  many  times  thereby,  yet 
my  successes  have  been  few  and  scattered.  Every 
time  the  auditors  check  my  stock  and  accounts  I 
tremble  in  fear,  for  embezzling  books  is  more  dan- 
gerous than  embezzling  credit  at  the  bank." 

"  But  who,"  I  asked,  "  write  the  books?  " 

"  For  the  technical  books  it  is  not  hard  to  find 
authors,"  explained  Hellar,  "  for  any  man  well 
schooled  in  his  work  can  write  of  it.  But  the  task 
of  getting  the  more  general  books  written  is  not 
so  easy.  For  then  it  is  not  so  much  a  question  of 
the  author  knowing  the  things  of  which  he  writes 
but  of  knowing  what  the  various  groups  are  to  be 
permitted  to  know. 

"  That  writing  is  done  exclusively  by  especially 
trained  workers  of  the  Information  Service.  I  my- 
self began  as  such  a  writer  and  studied  long  under 
the  older  masters.  The  school  of  scientific  lying, 
I  called  it,  but  strange  to  say  I  used  to  enjoy  such 
work  and  did  it  remarkably  well.  As  recognition 
of  my  ability  I  was  commissioned  to  write  the  book 
■  God's  Anointed.'  Through  His  Majesty's  ap- 
proval of  my  work  I  now  owe  my  position  on  the 
Staff. 

"  His  Majesty,"  continued  Hellar,  "  was  only 
twenty-six  years  of  age  when  he  came  to  the  throne, 
but  he  decided  at  once  that  a  new  religious  book 


iS2         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

should  be  written  in  which  he  would  be  proclaimed 
as  '  God's  Anointed  ruler  of  the  World.' 

"  I  had  never  before  spoken  with  the  high  mem- 
bers of  the  Royal  House,  and  I  was  trembling  with 
eagerness  and  fear  as  I  was  ushered  into  His  Majes- 
ty's presence.  The  Emperor  sat  at  his  great  black 
table;  before  him  was  an  old  book.  He  turned  to 
me  and  said,  '  Have  you  ever  heard  of  the  Christian 
Bible?' 

"  My  Chief  had  informed  me  that  the  new  book 
was  to  be  based  on  the  old  Bible  that  the  Christians 
had  received  from  the  Hebrews.  So  I  said,  '  Yes, 
Your  Majesty,  I  am  familiar  with  many  of  its 
words.' 

"  He  looked  at  me  with  a  gloating  suspicion. 
'  Ah,  ha,'  he  said,  '  then  there  is  something  amiss  in 
the  Information  Service  —  you  are  in  the  third  rank 
of  your  service  and  the  Bible  is  permitted  only  to  the 
first  rank.' 

"  I  saw  that  my  statement  unless  modified  would 
result  in  an  embarrassing  investigation.  '  I  have 
never  read  the  Christian  Bible,'  I  said,  '  but  my 
mother  must  have  read  it  for  when  as  a  child  I 
visited  her  she  quoted  to  me  long  passages  from  the 
Bible.' 

"  His  Majesty  smiled  in  a  pleased  fashion. 
'  That  is  it,'  he  said,  '  women  are  essentially  religious 
by  nature,  because  they  are  trusting  and  obedient. 
It  was  a  mistake  to  attempt  to  stamp  out  religion. 
It  is  the  doctrine  of  obedience.  Therefore  I  shall 
revive  religion,  but  it  shall  be  a  religion  of  obedience 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  153 

to  the  House  of  Hohenzollern.  The  God  of  the 
Hebrews  declared  them  to  be  his  chosen  people. 
But  they  proved  a  servile  and  mercenary  race. 
They  traded  their  swords  for  shekels  and  became  a 
byword  and  a  hissing  among  the  nations  —  and  they 
were  scattered  to  the  four  corners  of  the  earth.  I 
shall  revive  that  God.  And  this  time  he  shall  chose 
more  wisely,  for  the  Germans  shall  be  his  people. 
The  idea  is  not  mine.  William  the  Great  had  that 
idea,  but  the  revolution  swept  it  away.  It  shall  be 
revived.  We  shall  have  a  new  Bible,  based  upon 
the  old  one,  a  third  dispensation,  to  replace  the 
work  of  Moses  and  Jesus.  And  I  too  shall  be  a 
lawgiver —  I  shall  speak  the  word  of  God,'  " 

Hellar  paused;  a  smile  crept  over  his  face.  Then 
he  laughed  softly  and  to  himself  —  but  Dr.  Zim- 
mern  only  shook  his  head  sadly. 

"  Yes,  I  wrote  the  book,"  continued  Hellar.  "  It 
required  four  years,  for  His  Majesty  was  very 
critical,  and  did  much  revising.  I  had  a  long  argu- 
ment with  him  over  the  question  of  retaining  Hell. 
I  was  bitterly  opposed  to  it  and  represented  to  His 
Majesty  that  no  religion  had  ever  thrived  on  fear  of 
punishment  without  a  corresponding  hope  of  re- 
ward. '  If  you  are  to  have  no  Heaven,'  I  insisted, 
'  then  you  must  have  no  Hell.' 

"  '  But  we  do  not  need  Heaven,'  argued  His 
Majesty,  '  Heaven  is  superfluous.  It  is  an  insult 
to  my  reign.  Is  it  not  enough  that  a  man  is  a  Ger- 
man, and  may  serve  the  House  of  Hohenzollern?  ' 

"  '  Then  why,'  I  asked,  '  do  you  need  a  Hell?  ' 


i54         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

I  should  have  been  shot  for  that  but  His  Majesty 
did   not   see    the    implication.     He    replied   coolly: 

"  '  We  must  have  a  Hell  because  there  is  one 
way  that  my  subjects  can  escape  me.  It  is  a  sin 
of  our  race  that  the  Eugenics  Office  should  have 
bred  out  —  but  they  have  failed.  It  is  an  inborn 
sin  for  it  is  chiefly  committed  by  our  children  be- 
fore they  come  to  comprehend  the  glory  of  being 
German.  How  else,  if  you  do  not  have  a  Hell  in 
your  religion,  can  you  check  suicide?  ' 

"  Of  course  there  was  logic  in  his  contention  and 
so  I  gave  in  and  made  the  Children's  Hell.  It  is  a 
gruesome  doctrine,  that  a  child  who  kills  himself 
does  not  really  die.  It  is  the  one  thing  in  the  whole 
book  that  makes  me  feel  most  intellectually  unclean 
for  writing  it.  But  I  wrote  it  and  when  the  book 
was  finished  and  His  Majesty  had  signed  the  manu- 
script, for  the  first  time  in  over  a  century  we  printed 
a  bible  on  a  German  press.  The  press  where  the 
first  run  was  made  we  named  '  Old  Gutenberg.'  ' 

"Gutenberg  invented  the  printing  press,"  ex- 
plained Zimmern,  fearing  I  might  not  comprehend. 

"  Yes,"  said  Hellar  with  a  curling  lip,  "  and  Gut- 
enberg was  a  German,  and  so  am  I.  He  printed  a 
Bible  which  he  believed,  and  I  wrote  one  which  I  do 
not  believe." 

11  But  I  am  glad,"  concluded  Hellar  as  he  arose, 

II  that  I  do  not  believe  Gutenberg's  Bible  either, 
for  I  should  very  much  dislike  to  think  of  meeting 
him  in  Paradise." 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  155 

7 

After  taking  leave  of  my  companions  I  walked  on 
alone,  oblivious  to  the  gay  throng,  for  I  had  many 
things  on  which  to  ponder.  In  these  two  men  I 
felt  that  I  had  found  heroic  figures.  Their  fund 
of  knowledge,  which  they  prized  so  highly,  seemed 
to  me  pitifully  circumscribed  and  limited,  their  revo- 
lutionary plans  hopelessly  vague  and  futile.  But 
the  intellectual  stature  of  a  man  is  measured  in  terms 
of  the  average  of  his  race,  and,  thus  viewed,  Zim- 
mern  and  Hellar  were  intellectual  giants  of  heroic 
proportions. 

As  I  walked  through  a  street  of  shops,  I  paused 
before  the  display  window  of  a  bookstore  of  the 
level.  Most  of  these  books  I  had  previously  dis- 
covered were  lurid-titled  tales  of  licentious  love. 
But  among  them  I  now  saw  a  volume  bearing  the 
title  "  God's  Anointed,"  and  recalled  that  I  had 
seen  it  before  and  assumed  it  to  be  but  another  like 
its  fellows. 

Entering  the  store  I  secured  a  copy  and,  impa- 
tient to  inspect  my  purchase,  I  bent  my  steps  to  my 
favourite  retreat  in  the  nearby  Hall  of  Flowers.  In 
a  secluded  niche  near  the  misty  fountain  I  began  a 
hasty  perusal  of  this  imperially  inspired  word  of 
God  who  had  anointed  the  Hohenzollerns  masters 
of  the  earth.  Hellar's  description  had  prepared 
me  for  a  preposterous  and  absurd  work,  but  I  had 
not  anticipated  anything  quite  so  audacious  could 
be  presented  to  a  race  of  civilized  men,  much  less 


156         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

that  they  could  have  accepted  it  in  good  faith  as 
the  Germans  evidently  did. 

"  God's  Anointed,"  as  Hellar  had  scoffingly  in- 
ferred, not  only  proclaimed  the  Germans  as  the 
chosen  race,  but  also  proclaimed  an  actual  divinity 
of  the  blood  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern.  That 
William  II  did  have  some  such  notions  in  his  ego- 
mania I  believe  is  recorded  in  authentic  history. 
But  the  way  Eitel  I  had  adapted  that  faith  to  the 
rather  depressing  facts  of  the  failure  of  world  con- 
quest would  have  been  extremely  comical  to  me,  had 
I  not  seen  ample  evidence  of  the  colossal  effect  of 
such  a  faith  working  in  the  credulous  child-mind  of 
a  people  so  utterly  devoid  of  any  saving  sense  of 
humour. 

Not  unfamiliar  with  the  history  of  the  temporal 
reign  of  the  Popes  of  the  middle  ages,  I  could  read- 
ily comprehend  the  practical  efficiency  of  such  a 
mixture  of  religious  faith  with  the  affairs  of  earth. 
For  the  God  of  the  German  theology  exacted  no 
spiritual  worship  of  his  people,  but  only  a  very  tem- 
poral service  to  the  deity's  earthly  incarnation  in 
the  form  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern. 

The  greatest  virtue,  according  to  this  mundane 
theology,  was  obedience,  and  this  doctrine  was 
closely  interwoven  with  the  caste  system  of  Ger- 
man society.  The  virtue  of  obedience  required  the 
German  to  renounce  discontent  with  his  station, 
and  to  accept  not  only  the  material  status  into  which 
he  was  born,  with  science  aforethought,  but  the 
intellectual  limits  and  horizons  of  that  status.     The 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  157 

old  Christian  doctrine  of  heresy  was  broadened  to 
encompass  the  entire  mental  life.  To  think  for- 
bidden thoughts,  to  search  after  forbidden  know- 
ledge, that  was  at  once  treason  against  the  Royal 
House  and  rebellion  against  the  divine  plan. 

German  theology,  confounding  divine  and  human 
laws,  permitted  no  dual  overlapping  spheres  of 
mundane  and  celestial  rule  as  had  all  previous  re- 
ligious and  social  orders  since  Christ  had  com- 
manded his  disciples  to  "  Render  unto  Caesar  — " 
There  could  be  no  conscientious  objection  to  Ger- 
man law  on  religious  grounds;  no  problem  of  church 
and  state,  for  the  church  was  the  state. 

In  this  book  that  masqueraded  as  the  word  of 
God,  I  looked  in  vain  for  some  revelation  of  future 
life.  But  it  was  essentially  a  one-world  theology; 
the  most  immortal  thing  was  the  Royal  House  for 
which  the  worker  was  asked  to  slave,  the  soldier  to 
die  that  Germany  might  be  ruled  by  the  Hohenzol- 
lerns  and  that  the  Hohenzollerns  might  sometime 
rule  the  world. 

As  the  freedom  of  conscience  and  the  institution 
of  marriage  had  been  discarded  so  this  German  faith 
had  scrapped  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  save  for 
the  single  incongruous  doctrine  that  a  child  taking 
his  own  life  does  not  die  but  lives  on  in  ceaseless 
torment  in  a  ghoulish  Children's  Hell. 

As  I  closed  the  cursed  volume  my  mind  called  up 
a  picture  of  Teutonic  hordes  pouring  from  the  for- 
ests of  the  North  and  blotting  out  what  Greece 
and  Rome  had  builded.      From  thence  my  roving 


i58         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

fancy  tripped  over  the  centuries  and  lived  again  with 
men  who  cannot  die.  I  stood  with  Luther  at  the 
Diet  of  Worms.  With  Kant  I  sounded  the  deeps 
of  philosophy.  I  sailed  with  Humboldt  athwart 
uncharted  seas.  I  fought  with  Goethe  for  the  re- 
demption of  a  soul  sold  to  the  Devil.  And  with 
Schubert  and  Heine  I  sang: 

Du  bist  wie  eine  Blume , 

So  hold  und  schoen   mid  rein, 

Betend  dass  Gott  dich  erhalte, 
So  rein  und  schoen  und  hold. 

But  what  a  cankerous  end  was  here.  This  peo- 
ple which  the  world  had  once  loved  and  honoured 
was  now  bred  a  beast  of  burden,  a  domesticated 
race,  saddled  and  trained  to  bear  upon  its  back  the 
House  of  Hohenzollern  as  the  ass  bore  Balaam. 
But  the  German  ass  wore  the  blinders  that  science 
had  made  —  and  saw  no  angel. 


As  I  sat  musing  thus  and  gazing  into  the  spray 
of  the  fountain  I  glimpsed  a  grey  clad  figure,  stand- 
ing in  the  shadows  of  a  viney  bower.  Although  I 
could  not  distinguish  her  face  through  the  leafy 
tracery  I  knew  that  it  was  Bertha,  and  my  heart 
thrilled  to  think  that  she  had  returned  to  the  site 
of  our  meeting.  Thoroughly  ashamed  of  the  faith- 
less doubts  that  I  had  so  recently  entertained  of  her 
innocence  and  sincerity,  I  arose  and  hastened  toward 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  159 

her.  But  in  making  the  detour  about  the  pool  I 
lost  sight  of  the  grey  figure,  for  she  was  standing 
well  back  in  the  arbour.  As  I  approached  the  place 
where  I  had  seen  her  I  came  upon  two  lovers  stand- 
ing with  arms  entwined  in  the  path  at  the  pool's 
edge.  Not  wishing  to  disturb  them,  I  turned  back 
through  one  of  the  arbours  and  approached  by  an- 
other path.  As  I  slipped  noiselessly  along  in  my 
felt-soled  shoes  I  heard  Bertha's  voice,  and  quite 
near,  through  the  leafy  tracery,  I  glimpsed  the  grey 
of  her  gown. 

"  Why  with  your  beauty,"  came  the  answering 
voice  of  a  man,  "  did  you  not  find  a  lover  from  the 
Royal  Level?" 

"  Because,"  Bertha's  voice  replied,  "  I  would 
not  accept  them.  I  could  not  love  them.  I  could 
not  give  myself  without  love." 

"  But  surely,"  insisted  the  man,  "  you  have  found 
a  lover  here?  " 

"  But  I  have  not,"  protested  the  innocent  voice, 
"  because  I  have  sought  none." 

"  Now  long  have  you  been  here?  "  bluntly  asked 
the  man. 

"  Thirty  days,"  replied  the  girl. 

'  Then  you  must  have  found  a  lover,  your  debut 
fund  would  all  be  gone." 

"  But,"  cried  Bertha,  in  a  tearful  voice,  "  I  only 
eat  one  meal  a  day  —  do  you  not  see  how  thin  I 
am?" 

"  Now  that's  clever,"  rejoined  the  man,  "  come, 
I'll  accept  it  for  what  it  is  worth,  and  look  you  up 


160         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

afterwards,"  and  he  laughingly  led  her  away,  leav- 
ing me  undiscovered  in  the  neighbouring  arbour  to 
pass  judgment  on  my  own  simplicity. 

As  I  walked  toward  the  elevator,  I  was  painfully 
conscious  of  two  ideas.  One  was  that  Marguerite 
had  been  quite  correct  with  her  information  about 
the  free  women  who  found  it  profitable  to  play  the 
role  of  maidenly  innocence.  The  other  was  that 
Dr.  Zimmern's  precious  geography  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  artful,  child-eyed  hypocrite  who  had  so  clev- 
erly beguiled  me  with  her  role  of  heroic  virtue. 
Clearly,  I  was  trapped,  and  to  judge  better  with 
what  I  had  to  deal  I  decided  to  go  at  once  to  the 
Place  of  Records,  of  which  I  had  twice  heard. 

The  Place  of  Records  proved  to  be  a  public  direc- 
tory of  the  financial  status  of  the  free  women. 
Since  the  physical  plagues  that  are  propagated  by 
promiscuous  love  had  been  completely  exterminated, 
and  since  there  were  no  moral  standards  to  pre- 
serve, there  was  no  need  of  other  restrictions  on  the 
lives  of  the  women  than  an  economic  one. 

The  rules  of  the  level  were  prominently  posted. 
As  all  consequential  money  exchanges  were  made 
through  bank  checks,  the  keeping  of  the  records  was 
an  easy  matter.  These  rules  I  found  forbade  any 
woman  to  cash  checks  in  excess  of  one  thousand 
marks  a  month,  or  in  excess  of  two  hundred  marks 
from  any  one  man.  That  was  simple  enough,  and  I 
smiled  as  I  recalled  that  I  had  gone  the  legal  limit 
in  my  first  adventure. 

Following  the  example  of  other  men,  I  stepped  to 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  161 

the  window  and  gave  the  name:  "  Bertha  34  R  6." 
A  clerk  brought  me  a  book  opened  to  the  page  of  her 
record.  At  the  top  of  the  page  was  entered  this 
statement,  "  Bred  for  an  actress  but  rejected  for 
both  professional  work  and  maternity  because  found 
devoid  of  sympathetic  emotions."  I  laughed  as  I 
read  this,  but  when  on  the  next  line  I  saw  from  the 
date  of  her  entrance  to  the  level  that  Bertha's 
thirty  days  was  in  reality  nearly  three  years,  my 
mirth  turned  to  anger.  I  looked  down  the  list  of 
entries  and  found  that  for  some  time  she  had  been 
cashing  each  month  the  maximum  figure  of  a 
thousand  marks.  Evidently  her  little  scheme  of 
pensive  posing  in  the  Hall  of  Flowers  was  work- 
ing nicely.  In  the  current  month,  hardly  half  gone, 
she  already  had  to  her  credit  seven  hundred  marks; 
and  last  on  the  list  was  my  own  contribution,  freshly 
entered. 

"  She  has  three  hundred  marks  yet,"  commented 
the  clerk. 

"  Yes,  I  see," —  and  I  turned  to  go.  But  I 
paused  and  stepped  again  to  the  window.  "  There 
is  another  girl  I  would  like  to  look  up,"  I  said,  "  but 
I  have  only  her  name  and  no  number." 

"  Do  you  know  the  date  of  her  arrival?"  asked 
the  clerk. 

"  Yes,  she  has  been  here  four  years  and  six  days. 
The  name  is  Marguerite." 

The  clerk  walked  over  to  a  card  file  and  after 
some  searching  brought  back  a  slip  with  half  a 
dozen    numbers.      "  Try    these,"    he    said,    and   he 


1 62         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

brought  me  the  volumes.  The  second  record  I  in- 
spected read:  "Marguerite,  78  K  4,  Love-child." 
On  the  page  below  was  a  single  entry  for  each  month 
of  two  hundred  marks  and  every  entry  from  the 
first  was  in  the  name  of  Ludwig  Zimmern. 

9 

I  kept  my  appointment  with  Bertha,  but  found 
it  difficult  to  hide  my  anger  as  she  greeted  me. 
Wishing  to  get  the  interview  over,  I  asked  abruptly, 
"Have  you  read  the  book  I  left?" 

"  Not  all  of  it,"  she  replied,  "  I  found  it  rather 
dull." 

"  Then  perhaps  I  had  better  take  it  with  me." 

"  But  I  think  I  shall  keep  it  awhile,"  she  de- 
murred. 

"  No,"  I  insisted,  as  I  looked  about  and  failed 
to  see  the  geography,  "  I  wish  you  would  get  it  for 
me.  I  want  to  take  it  back,  in  fact  it  was  a  bor- 
rowed book." 

"  Most  likely,"  she  smiled  archly,  "  but  since  you 
are  not  a  staff  officer,  and  had  no  right  to  have  that 
book,  you  might  as  well  know  that  you  will  get  it 
when  I  please  to  give  it  to  you." 

Seeing  that  she  was  thoroughly  aware  of  my 
predicament,  I  grew  frightened  and  my  anger 
slipped  from  its  moorings.  "  See  here,"  I  cried, 
"  your  little  story  of  innocence  and  virtue  is  very 
clever,  but  I've  looked  you  up  and  —  " 

"And  what — ,"   she   asked,   while   through  her 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  163 

child-like  mask  the  subtle  trickery  of  her  nature 
mocked  me  with  a  look  of  triumph  —  "  and  what  do 
you  propose  to  do  about  it?  " 

I  realized  the  futility  of  my  rage.  "  I  shall  do 
nothing.      I  ask  only  that  you  return  the  book." 

"  But  books  are  so  valuable,"  taunted  Bertha. 

Dejectedly  I  sank  to  the  couch.  She  came  over 
and  sat  on  a  cushion  at  my  feet.  "  Really  Karl," 
she  purred,  "  you  should  not  be  angry.  If  I  insist  on 
keeping  your  book  it  is  merely  to  be  sure  that  you 
will  not  forget  me.  I  rather  like  you;  you  are  so 
queer  and  talk  such  odd  things.  Did  you  learn  your 
strange  ways  of  making  love  from  the  book  about 
the  inferior  races  in  the  world  outside  the  walls? 
I  really  tried  to  read  some  of  it,  but  I  could  not  un- 
derstand half  the  words." 

I  rose  and  strode  about  the  room.  "  Will  you 
get  me  the  book?"  I  demanded. 

"  And  lose  you?  " 

"Well,  what  of  it?  You  can  get  plenty  more 
fools  like  me." 

"  Yes,  but  I  would  have  to  stand  and  stare  into 
that  fountain  for  hours  at  a  time.  It  is  very  tire- 
some." 

"Just  what  do  you  want?"  I  asked,  trying  to 
speak  calmly. 

"  Why  you,"  she  said,  placing  her  slender  white 
hands  upon  my  arm,  and  holding  up  an  inviting 
face. 

But  anger  at  my  own  gullibility  had  killed  her 


i64         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

power  to  draw  me,  and  I  shook  her  off.  "  I  want 
that  book,"  I  said  coldly,  "  what  are  your  terms?  " 
And  I  drew  my  check  book  from  my  pocket. 

"  How  many  blanks  have  you  there?  "  she  asked 
with  a  greedy  light  in  her  eyes  —  "  but  never  mind 
to  count  them.  Make  them  all  out  to  me  at  two 
hundred  marks,  and  date  each  one  a  month  ahead." 

Realizing  that  any  further  exhibition  of  fear  or 
anger  would  put  me  more  within  her  power,  I  sat 
down  and  began  to  write  the  checks.  The  fund  I 
was  making  over  to  her  was  quite  useless  to  me  but 
when  I  had  made  out  twenty  checks  I  stopped. 
"  Now,"  I  said,  "  this  is  enough.  You  take  these  or 
nothing."  Tearing  out  the  written  checks  I  held 
them  toward  her. 

As  she  reached  out  her  hand  I  drew  them  back  — 
"  Go  get  the  book,"  I  demanded. 

"  But  you  are  unfair,"  said  Bertha,  "  you  are  the 
stronger.  Y'ou  can  take  the  book  from  me.  I  can- 
not take  the  checks  from  you." 

"  That  is  so,"  I  admitted,  and  handed  the  checks 
to  her.  She  looked  at  them  carefully  and  slipped 
them  into  her  bosom,  and  then,  reaching  under  the 
pile  of  silken  pillows,  she  pulled  forth  the  geog- 
raphy. 

I  seized  it  and  turned  toward  the  door,  but  she 
caught  my  arm.  "  Don't,"  she  pleaded,  "  don't 
go.  Don't  be  angry  with  me.  Why  should  you 
dislike  me?  I've  only  played  my  part  as  you  men 
make  it  for  us  —  but  I  do  not  want  your  money  for 
nothing.     You  liked  me  when  you  thought  me  in- 


THE  OLDEST  TRADE  165 

nocent.  Why  hate  me  when  you  find  that  I  am 
clever?  " 

Again  those  slender  arms  stole  around  my  neck, 
and  the  entrancing  face  was  raised  to  mine.  But 
the  vision  of  a  finer,  nobler  face  rose  before  me,  and 
I  pushed  away  the  clinging  arms.  "  I'm  sorry,"  I 
said,  "  I  am  going  now  —  going  back  to  my  work 
and  forget  you.  It  is  not  your  fault.  You  are 
only  what  Germany  has  made  you  —  but,"  I  added 
with  a  smile,  "  if  you  must  go  to  the  Hall  of  Flow- 
ers, please  do  not  wear  that  grey  gown." 

She  stood  very  still  as  I  edged  toward  the  door, 
and  the  look  of  baffled  child-like  innocence  crept 
back  into  her  eyes,  a  real  innocence  this  time  of 
things  she  did  not  know,  and  could  not  understand. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  SUN  SHINES   UPON  A   KING  AND  A  GIRL  READS 
OF   THE    FALL    OF    BABYLON 


EMBITTERED  by  this  unhappy  ending  of  my 
romance,  I  turned  to  my  work  with  savage 
zeal,  determined  not  again  to  be  diverted  by 
a  personal  effort  to  save  the  Germans  from  their 
sins.  But  this  application  to  my  test-tubes  was  pres- 
ently interrupted  by  a  German  holiday  which  was 
known  as  The  Day  of  the  Sun. 

From  the  conversation  of  my  assistants  I  gathered 
that  this  was  an  annual  occasion  of  particular  im- 
portance. It  was,  in  fact,  His  Majesty's  birthday, 
and  was  celebrated  by  permitting  the  favoured 
classes  to  see  the  ruler  himself  at  the  Place  in  the 
Sun.  For  this  Royal  exhibition  I  received  a  blue 
ticket  of  which  my  assistants  were  curiously  envious. 
They  inspected  the  number  of  it  and  the  hour  of 
my  admittance  to  the  Royal  Level.  "  It  is  the  first 
appearance  of  the  day,"  they  said.  "  His  Majesty 
will  be  fresh  to  speak;  you  will  be  near;  you  will 
be  able  to  see  His  Face  without  the  aid  of  a  glass; 
you  will  be  able  to  hear  His  Voice,  and  not  merely 
the  reproducing  horns." 

In  the  morning  our  news  bulletin  was  wholly  de- 

166 


THE  SUN  SHINES  UPON  A  KING     167 

voted  to  announcements  and  patriotic  exuberances. 
Across  the  sheet  was  flamed  a  headline  stating  that 
the  meteorologist  of  the  Roof  Observatory  reported 
that  the  sun  would  shine  in  full  brilliancy  upon  the 
throne.  This  seemed  very  puzzling  to  me.  For 
the  Place  in  the  Sun  was  clearly  located  on  the 
Royal  Level  and  some  hundred  metres  beneath 
the  roof  of  the  city. 

I  went,  at  the  hour  announced  on  my  ticket,  to 
the  indicated  elevator;  and,  with  an  eager  crowd  of 
fellow  scientists,  stepped  forth  into  a  vast  open 
space  where  the  vaulted  ceiling  was  supported  by 
massive  fluted  columns  that  rose  to  twice  the  height 
of  the  ordinary  spacing  of  the  levels  of  the  city. 

An  enormous  crowd  of  men  of  the  higher  ranks 
was  gathering.  Closely  packed  and  standing,  the 
multitude  extended  to  the  sides  and  the  rear  of  my 
position  for  many  hundred  metres  until  it  seemed 
quite  lost  under  the  glowing  lights  in  the  distance. 
Before  us  a  huge  curtain  hung.  Emblazoned  on 
its  dull  crimson  background  of  subdued  socialism 
was  a  gigantic  black  eagle,  the  leering  emblem  of 
autocracy.  Above  and  extending  back  over  us, 
appeared  in  the  ceiling  a  deep  and  unlighted 
crevice. 

As  the  crowd  seemed  complete  the  men  about  me 
consulted  their  watches  and  then  suddenly  grew 
quiet  in  expectancy.  The  lights  blinked  twice  and 
went  out,  and  we  were  bathed  in  a  hush  of  dark- 
ness. The  heavy  curtain  rustled  like  the  mantle 
of  Jove  while  from  somewhere  above  I  heard  the 


1 68  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

shutters  of  the  windows  of  heaven  move  heavily  on 
their  rollers.  A  flashing  brilliant  beam  of  light  shot 
through  the  blackness  and  fell  in  wondrous  splen- 
dour upon  a  dazzling  metallic  dais,  whereon  rested 
the  gilded  throne  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern. 

Seated  upon  the  throne  was  a  man  —  a  very  lit- 
tle man  he  seemed  amidst  such  vast  and  vivid  sur- 
roundings. He  was  robed  in  a  cape  of  dazzling 
white,  and  on  his  head  he  wore  a  helmet  of  bur- 
nished platinum.  Before  the  throne  and  slightly  to 
one  side  stood  the  round  form  of  a  paper  globe. 

His  Majesty  rose,  stepped  a  few  paces  forward; 
and,  as  he  with  solemn  deliberation  raised  his  hand 
into  the  shaft  of  burning  light,  from  the  throng 
there  came  a  frenzied  shouting,  which  soon  changed 
into  a  sort  of  chanting  and  then  into  a  throaty 
song. 

His  Majesty  lowered  his  hand;  the  song  ceased; 
a  great  stillness  hung  over  the  multitude.  Eitel  I, 
Emperor  of  the  Germans,  now  raised  his  face  and 
stared  for  a  moment  unblinkingly  into  the  beam  of 
sunlight,  then  he  lowered  his  gaze  toward  the  sea 
of  upturned  faces. 

'  My  people,"  he  said,  in  a  voice  which  for  all 
his  pompous  effort,  fell  rather  flat  in  the  immensity, 
"  you  are  assembled  here  in  the  Place  of  the  Sun 
to  do  honour  to  God's  anointed  ruler  of  the  world." 

From  ten  thousand  throats  came  forth  another 
raucous  shout. 

"  Two  and  a  half  centuries  ago,"  now  spoke  His 
Majesty,  "  God  appointed  the  German  race,  under 


THE  SUN  SHINES  UPON  A  KING     169 

William  the  Great,  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern, 
to  be  the  rulers  of  the  world. 

"  For  nineteen  hundred  years,  God  in  his  infinite 
patience,  had  awaited  the  outcome  of  the  test  of 
the  Nazarene's  doctrine  of  servile  humility  and  ef- 
feminate peace.  But  the  Christian  nations  of  the 
earth  were  weighed  in  the  balance  of  Divine  wrath 
and  found  wanting.  Wallowing  in  hypocrisy  and 
ignorance,  wanting  in  courage  and  valour;  behind  a 
pretence  of  altruism  they  cloaked  their  selfish  greed 
for  gold. 

"  Of  all  the  people  of  the  earth  our  race  alone 
possessed  the  two  keys  to  power,  the  mastery  of 
science  and  the  mastery  of  the  sword.  So  the  Ger- 
mans were  called  of  God  to  instil  fear  and  reverence 
into  the  hearts  of  the  inferior  races.  That  was  the 
purpose  of  the  First  World  War  under  my  noble  an- 
cestor, William  II. 

"  But  the  envious  nations,  desperate  in  their 
greed,  banded  together  to  defy  our  old  German 
God,  and  destroy  His  chosen  people.  But  this  was 
only  a  divine  trial  of  our  worth,  for  the  plans  of 
God  are  for  eternity.  His  days  to  us  are  centuries. 
And  we  did  well  to  patiently  abide  the  complete  un- 
foldment  of  the  Divine  plan. 

"  Before  two  generations  had  passed  our  Ger- 
man ancestors  cast  off  the  yoke  of  enslavement  and 
routed  the  oppressors  in  the  Second  World  War. 
Lest  His  chosen  race  be  contaminated  by  the  swinish 
herds  of  the  mongrel  nations  God  called  upon  His 
people  to  relinquish  for  a  time  the  fruits  of  conquest, 


170         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

that  they  might  be  further  purged  by  science  and 
become  a  pure-bred  race  of  super-men. 

"  That  purification  has  been  accomplished  for 
every  German  is  bred  and  trained  by  science  as  or- 
dained by  God.  There  are  no  longer  any  mongrels 
among  the  men  of  Germany,  for  every  one  of  you 
is  created  for  his  special  purpose  and  every  German 
is  fitted  for  his  particular  place  as  a  member  of 
the  super-race. 

"  The  time  now  draws  near  when  the  final  pur- 
pose of  our  good  old  German  God  is  to  be  fulfilled. 
The  day  of  this  fulfilment  is  known  unto  me.  The 
sun  which  shines  upon  this  throne  is  but  a  symbol 
of  that  which  has  been  denied  you  while  all  these 
things  were  being  made  ready.  But  now  the  day 
draws  near  when  you  shall,  under  my  leadership, 
rule  over  the  world  and  the  mongrel  peoples.  And 
to  each  of  you  shall  be  given  a  place  in  the  sun." 

The  voice  had  ceased!  A  great  stillness  hung 
over  the  multitude.  Eitel  I,  Emperor  of  the  Ger- 
mans, threw  back  his  cape  and  drew  his  sword. 
With  a  sweeping  flourish  he  slashed  the  paper  globe 
in  twain. 

From  the  myriad  throated  throng  came  a  rever- 
berating shout  that  rolled  and  echoed  through  the 
vaulted  catacomb.  The  crimson  curtain  dropped. 
The  shutters  were  thrown  athwart  the  reflected 
beam  of  sunlight.  The  lights  of  man  again  glowed 
pale  amidst  the  maze  of  columns. 

Singing  and  marching,  the  men  filed  toward  the 
elevators.     The   guards   urged  haste   to   clear   the 


THE  SUN  SHINES  UPON  A  KING     171 

way,  for  the  God  of  the  Germans  could  not  stay 
the  march  of  the  sun  across  the  roof  of  Berlin, 
and  a  score  of  paper  globes  must  yet  be  slashed 
for  other  shouting  multitudes  before  the  sun's  last 
gleam  be  twisted  down  to  shine  upon  a  king. 


Although  the  working  hours  of  the  day  were 
scarcely  one-fourth  gone,  it  was  impossible  for  me 
to  return  to  my  laboratory  for  the  lighting  cur- 
rent was  shut  off  for  the  day.  I  therefore  decided 
to  utilize  the  occasion  by  returning  the  geography 
which  I  had  rescued  from  Bertha. 

Dr.  Zimmern's  invitation  to  make  use  of  his 
library  had  been  cordial  enough,  but  its  location  in 
Marguerite's  apartment  had  made  me  a  little  ret- 
icent about  going  there  except  in  the  Doctor's  com- 
pany. Yet  I  did  not  wish  to  admit  to  Zimmern  my 
sensitiveness  in  the  matter  —  and  the  geography 
had  been  kept  overlong. 

This  occasion  being  a  holiday,  I  found  the  re- 
sorts on  the  Level  of  Free  Women  crowded  with 
merrymakers.  But  I  sought  the  quieter  side  streets 
and  made  my  way  towards  Marguerite's  apartment. 

"  I  thought  you  would  be  celebrating  today,"  she 
said  as  I  entered. 

"  I  feel  that  I  can  utilize  the  time  better  by  read- 
ing," I  replied.  "  There  is  so  much  I  want  to  learn, 
and,  thanks  to  Dr.  Zimmern,  I  now  have  the  op- 
portunity." 

"  But  surely  you  are  to  see  the  Emperor  in  the 


172         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

Place  in  the  Sun,"  said  Marguerite  when  she  had 
returned  the  geography  to  the  secret  shelf. 

"  I  have  already  seen  him,"  I  replied,  "  my 
ticket  was  for  the  first  performance." 

11  It  must  be  a  magnificent  sight,"  she  sighed.  "  I 
should  so  love  to  see  the  sunlight.  The  pictures 
show  us  His  Majesty's  likeness,  but  what  is  a  pic- 
ture of  sunlight?  " 

"  But  you  speak  only  of  a  reflected  beam;  how 
would  you  like  to  see  real  sunshine?  " 

11  Oh,  on  the  roof  of  Berlin?  But  that  is  only  for 
Royalty  and  the  roof  guards.  I've  tried  to  imagine 
that,  but  I  knoAV  that  I  fail  as  a  blind  man  must  fail 
to  imagine  colour." 

"  Close  your  eyes,"  I  said  playfully,  "  and  try 
very  hard." 

Solemnly  Marguerite  closed  her  eyes. 

For  a  moment  I  smiled,  and  then  the  smile  re- 
laxed, for  I  felt  as  one  who  scoffs  at  prayer. 

"  And  did  you  see  the  sunlight?  "  I  asked,  as  she 
opened  her  eyes  and  gazed  at  me  with  dilated  pu- 
pils. 

"  No,"  she  answered  hoarsely,  "  I  only  saw  man- 
light  as  far  as  the  walls  of  Berlin,  and  beyond  that 
it  was  all  empty  blackness  —  and  it  frightens  me." 

11  The  fear  of  darkness,"  I  said,  "  is  the  fear  of 
ignorance." 

"  You  try,"  and  she  reached  over  with  a  soft 
touch  of  her  finger  tips  on  my  closing  eyelids. 
"  Now  keep  them  closed  and  tell  me  what  you  see. 
Tell  me  it  is  not  all  black." 


THE  SUN  SHINES  UPON  A  KING     173 

"  I  see  light,"  I  said,  "  white  light,  on  a  billowy 
sea  of  clouds,  as  from  a  flying  plane.  .  .  .  And  now 
I  see  the  sun  —  it  is  sinking  behind  a  rugged  line  of 
snowy  peaks  and  the  light  is  dimming.  ...  It  is 
gone  now,  but  it  is  not  dark,  for  moonlight,  pale  and 
silvery,  is  shimmering  on  a  choppy  sea.  .  .  .  Now  it 
is  the  darkest  hour,  but  it  is  never  black,  only  a  dark, 
dark  grey,  for  the  roof  of  the  world  is  pricked  with 
a  million  points  of  light.  .  .  .  The  grey  of  the  east 
is  shot  with  the  rose  of  dawn.  .  .  .  The  rose  bright- 
ens to  scarlet  and  the  curve  of  the  sun  appears  — 
red  like  the  blood  of  war.  .  .  .  And  now  the  sky  is 
crystal  blue  and  the  grey  sands  of  the  desert  have 
turned  to  glittering  gold." 

I  had  ceased  my  poetic  visioning  and  was  looking 
into  Marguerite's  face.  The  light  of  worship  I 
saw  in  her  eyes  filled  me  with  a  strange  trembling 
and  holy  awe. 

"  And  I  saw  only  blackness,"  she  faltered.  "  Is 
it  that  I  am  born  blind  and  you  with  vision?  " 

"  Perhaps  what  you  call  vision  is  only  memory," 
I  said  —  but,  as  I  realized  where  my  words  were 
leading,  I  hastened  to  add — "Memory,  from  an- 
other life.  Have  you  ever  heard  of  such  a  thing 
as  the  reincarnation  of  the  soul?  " 

"  That  means,"  she  said  hesitatingly,  "  that  there 
is  something  in  us  that  does  not  die  —  immortality, 
is  it  not?" 

"  Well,  it  is  something  like  that,"  I  answered 
huskily,  as  I  wondered  what  she  might  know  or 
dream  of  that  which  lay  beyond  the  ken  of  the  gross 


174         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

materialism  of  her  race.  "  Immortality  is  a  ver, 
beautiful  idea,"  I  went  on,  "  and  science  has  de- 
stroyed much  that  is  beautiful.  But  it  is  a  pity  that 
Col.  Hellar  had  to  eliminate  the  idea  of  immortal- 
ity from  the  German  Bible.  Surely  such  a  book 
makes  no  pretence  of  being  scientific." 

"  So  Col.  Hellar  has  told  you  that  he  wrote 
'God's  Anointed'?"  exclaimed  Marguerite  with 
eager  interest. 

"  Yes,  he  told  me  of  that  and  I  re-read  the  book 
with  an  entirely  different  viewpoint  since  I  came  to 
understand  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  written." 

"Ah — I  see."  Marguerite  rose  and  stepped 
toward  the  library.  "  We  have  a  book  here,"  she 
called,  "  that  you  have  not  read,  and  one  that  you 
cannot  buy.  It  will  show  you  the  source  of  Col. 
Hellar's  inspiration." 

She  brought  out  a  battered  volume.  '  This 
book,"  she  stated,  "  has  given  the  inspectors  more 
trouble  than  any  other  book  in  existence.  Though 
they  have  searched  for  thirty  years,  they  say  there 
are  more  copies  of  it  still  at  large  than  of  all  other 
forbidden  books  combined." 

I  gazed  at  the  volume  she  handed  me  —  I  was 
holding  a  copy  of  the  Christian  Bible  translated  six 
centuries  previous  by  Martin  Luther.  It  was  in- 
deed the  very  text  from  which  as  a  boy  I  had  ac- 
quired much  of  my  reading  knowledge  of  the  lan- 
guage. But  I  decided  that  I  had  best  not  reveal 
to  Marguerite  my  familiarity  with  it,  and  so  I  sat 


THE  SUN  SHINES  UPON  A  KING     175 

down  and  turned  the  pages  with  assumed  perplexity. 

u  It  is  a  very  odd  book,"  I  remarked  presently. 
"  Have  you  read  it?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,"  exclaimed  Marguerite.  "  I  often 
read  it;  I  think  it  is  more  interesting  than  all  these 
modern  books,  but  perhaps  that  is  because  I  cannot 
understand  it;  I  love  mysterious  things." 

"  There  is  too  much  of  it  for  a  man  as  busy  as 
I  am  to  hope  to  read,"  I  remarked,  after  turning  a 
few  more  pages,  "  and  so  I  had  better  not  begin. 
Will  you  not  choose  something  and  read  it  aloud  to 
me?" 

Marguerite  declined  at  first;  but,  when  I  insisted, 
she  took  the  tattered  Bible  and  turned  slowly  through 
its  pages. 

And  when  she  read,  it  was  the  story  of  a  king 
who  revelled  with  his  lords,  and  of  a  hand  that 
wrote  upon  a  wall. 

Her  voice  was  low,  and  possessed  a  rhythm  and 
cadence  that  transmuted  the  guttural  German  tongue 
into  musical  poetry. 

Again  she  read,  of  a  man  who,  though  shorn  of 
his  strength  by  the  wiles  of  a  woman  and  blinded 
by  his  enemies,  yet  pushed  asunder  the  pillars  of  a 
city. 

At  random  she  read  other  tales,  of  rulers  and  of 
slaves,  of  harlots  and  of  queens  —  the  wisdom  of 
prophets  —  the  songs  of  kings. 

Together  we  pondered  the  meanings  of  these 
strange  things,   and  exulted  in   the  beauty  of  that 


176         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

which  was  meaningless.  And  so  the  hours  passed; 
the  day  drew  near  its  close  and  Marguerite  read 
from  the  last  pages  of  the  book,  of  a  voice  that  cried 
mightily — "Babylon  the  great  is  fallen,  is  fallen, 
and  is  become  the  habitation  of  devils  and  the  hold 
of  every  foul  spirit." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

FINDING  THEREIN  ONE   RIGHTEOUS  MAN  I    HAVE 
COMPASSION   ON    BERLIN 

I 

MY  first  call  upon  Marguerite  had  been  fol- 
lowed by  other  visits  when  we  had  talked 
of  books  and  read  together.  On  these 
occasions  I  had  carefully  suppressed  my  desire  to 
speak  of  more  personal  things.  But,  constantly  re- 
minded by  my  own  troubled  conscience,  I  grew  fear- 
ful lest  the  old  doctor  should  discover  that  the  books 
were  the  lesser  part  of  the  attraction  that  drew  me 
to  Marguerite's  apartment,  and  my  fear  was  in- 
creased as  I  realized  that  my  calls  on  Zimmern  had 
abruptly  ceased. 

Thinking  to  make  amends  I  went  one  evening  to 
the  doctor's  apartment. 

"  I  was  going  out  shortly,"  said  Zimmern,  as  he 
greeted  me.  "  I  have  a  dinner  engagement  with 
Hellar  on  the  Free  Level.  But  I  still  have  a  little 
time;  if  it  pleases  you  we  might  walk  along  to  our 
library." 

I  promptly  accepted  the  invitation,  hoping  that 
it  would  enable  me  better  to  establish  my  relation 
to  Marguerite  and  Zimmern  in  a  safe  triangle  of 
mutual  friendship.     As  we  walked,  Zimmern,  as  if 

177 


i78         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

he  read  my  thoughts,  turned  the  conversation  to  the 
very  subject  that  was  uppermost  in  my  mind. 

"  I  am  glad,  Armstadt,"  he  said  with  a  gracious 
smile,  "  that  you  and  Marguerite  seem  to  enjoy  each 
other's  friendship.  I  had  often  wished  there  were 
younger  men  in  our  group,  since  her  duties  as  care- 
taker of  our  books  quite  forbids  her  cultivating  the 
acquaintance  of  any  men  outside  our  chosen  few. 
Marguerite  is  very  patient  with  the  dull  talk  of  us 
old  men,  but  life  is  not  all  books,  and  there  is  much 
that  youth  may  share." 

For  these  words  of  Zimmern's  I  was  quite  unpre- 
pared. He  seemed  to  be  inviting  me  to  make  love 
to  Marguerite,  and  I  wondered  to  what  extent  the 
prevailing  social  ethics  might  have  destroyed  the 
finer  sensibilities  that  forbid  the  sharing  of  a  wom- 
an's love. 

When  we  reached  the  apartment  Marguerite 
greeted  us  with  a  perfect  democracy  of  manner. 
But  my  reassurance  of  the  moment  was  presently 
disturbed  when  she  turned  to  Zimmern  and  said: 
"  Now  that  you  are  here,  I  am  going  for  a  bit  of 
a  walk;  I  have  not  been  out  for  two  whole  days." 

'  Very  well,"  the  doctor  replied.  "  I  cannot  re- 
main long  as  I  have  an  engagement  with  Hellar,  but 
perhaps  Armstadt  will  remain  until  you  return." 

1  Then  I  shall  have  him  all  to  myself,"  declared 
Marguerite  with  quiet  seriousness. 

Though  I  glanced  from  the  old  doctor  to  the 
young  woman  in  questioning  amazement,  neither 
seemed  in  the  least  embarrassed  or  aware  that  any- 


I  FIND  A  RIGHTEOUS  MAN        179 

thing  had  been  said  out  of  keeping  with  the  cus- 
tomary propriety  of  life. 

Marguerite,  throwing  the  blue  velvet  cape  about 
her  bare  white  shoulders,  paused  to  give  the  old 
doctor  an  affectionate  kiss,  and  with  a  smile  for  me 
was  gone. 

For  a  few  moments  the  doctor  sat  musing;  but 
when  he  turned  to  me  it  was  to  say:  "  I  hope  that 
you  are  making  good  use  of  our  precious  accumula- 
tion of  knowledge." 

In  reply  I  assured  him  of  my  hearty  appreciation 
of  the  library. 

"  You  can  see  now,"  continued  Zimmern,  "  how 
utterly  the  mind  of  the  race  has  been  enslaved,  how 
all  the  vast  store  of  knowledge,  that  as  a  whole 
makes  life  possible,  is  parcelled  out  for  each.  Not 
one  of  us  is  supposed  to  know  of  those  vital  things 
outside  our  own  narrow  field.  That  knowledge  is 
forbidden  us  lest  we  should  understand  the  work- 
ings of  our  social  system  and  question  the  wisdom 
of  it  all.  And  so,  while  each  is  wiser  in  his  own 
little  cell  than  were  the  men  of  the  old  order,  yet 
on  all  things  else  we  are  little  children,  accepting 
what  we  are  taught,  doing  what  we  are  told,  with 
no  mind,  no  souls  of  our  own.  Scientists  have 
ceased  to  be  men,  and  have  become  thinking  ma- 
chines, specialized  for  their  particular  tasks." 

"  That  is  true,"  I  said,  "  but  what  are  we  to  do 
about  it?  You  have  by  these  forbidden  books  ac- 
quired a  realization  of  the  enslavement  of  the  race 
—  but  the  others,  all  these  millions  of  professional 


180  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

men,  are  they  not  hopelessly  rendered  impotent  by 
the  systematic  suppression  of  knowledge?" 

"  The  millions,  yes,"  replied  Zimmern,  "  but  there 
are  the  chosen  few;  we  who  have  seen  the  light  must 
find  a  way  for  the  liberation  of  all." 

"  Do  you  mean,"  I  asked  eagerly,  "  that  you  are 
planning  some  secret  rebellion  —  that  you  hope  for 
some  possible  rising  of  the  people  to  overthrow  the 
system?  " 

Zimmern  looked  at  me  in  astonishment.  ''  The 
people,"  he  said,  "  cannot  rise.  In  the  old  order 
such  a  thing  was  possible  —  revolutions  they  called 
them  —  the  people  led  by  heroes  conceived  passions 
for  liberty.  But  such  powers  of  mental  reaction  no 
longer  exist  in  German  minds.  We  have  bred  and 
trained  it  out  of  them.  One  might  as  well  have 
expected  the  four-footed  beasts  of  burden  in  the  old 
agricultural  days  to  rebel  against  their  masters." 

"  But,"  I  protested,  "  if  the  people  could  be  en- 
lightened? " 

"  How,"  exclaimed  Zimmern  impatiently,  "  can 
you  enlighten  them?  You  are  young,  Armstadt, 
very  young  to  talk  of  such  things  —  even  if  a  re- 
bellion was  a  possibility  what  would  be  the  gain? 
Rebellion  means  disorder  —  once  the  ventilating  ma- 
chinery of  the  city  and  the  food  processes  were  dis- 
turbed we  should  all  perish  in  this  trap  —  we  should 
all  die  of  suffocation  and  starvation." 

"  Then  why,"  I  asked,  "  do  you  talk  of  this 
thing?  If  rebellion  is  impossible  and  would,  if  pos- 
sible, destroy  us  all,  then  is  there  any  hope?  " 


I  FIND  A  RIGHTEOUS  MAN       181 

Zimmern  paced  the  floor  for  a  time  in  silence  and 
then,  facing  me  squarely,  he  said,  "  I  have  confessed 
to  you  my  dissatisfaction  with  the  existing  state. 
In  doing  this  I  placed  myself  in  great  danger,  but  I 
risked  that  and  now  I  shall  risk  more.  I  ask  you 
now,  Are  you  with  us  to  the  end?  " 

"  Yes,"  I  replied  very  gravely,  "  I  am  with  you 
although  I  cannot  fully  understand  on  what  you 
base  your  hope." 

"  Our  hope,"  replied  Zimmern,  "  is  out  there  in 
the  world  from  whence  come  those  flying  men  who 
rain  bombs  on  the  roof  of  Berlin  and  for  ever  keep 
us  patching  it.  We  must  get  word  to  them.  We 
must  throw  ourselves  upon  the  humanity  of  our 
enemies  and  ask  them  to  save  us." 

"  But,"  I  questioned,  in  my  excitement,  "  what 
can  Germany  expect  of  the  enemy?  She  has  made 
war  against  the  world  for  centuries  —  will  that 
world  permit  Germany  to  live  could  they  find  a  way 
to  destroy  her?  " 

"  As  a  nation,  no,  but  as  men,  yes.  Men  do  not 
kill  men  as  individuals,  they  only  make  war  against 
a  nation  of  men.  As  long  as  Germany  is  capable  of 
making  war  against  the  world  so  long  will  the  world 
attempt  to  destroy  her.  You,  Colonel  Armstadt, 
hold  in  your  protium  secret  the  power  of  Germany 
to  continue  the  war  against  the  world.  Because  you 
were  about  to  gain  that  power  I  risked  my  own  life 
to  aid  you  in  getting  a  wider  knowledge.  Because 
you  now  hold  that  power  I  risk  it  again  by  asking 
you  to  use  it  to  destroy  Germany  and  save  the  Ger- 


1 82         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

mans.  The  men  who  are  with  me  in  this  cause, 
and  for  whom  I  speak,  are  but  a  few.  The  mil- 
lions materially  alive,  are  spiritually  dead.  The 
world  alone  can  give  them  life  again  as  men.  Even 
though  a  few  million  more  be  destroyed  in  the  giv- 
ing have  not  millions  already  been  destroyed? 
What  if  you  do  save  Germany  now  —  what  does  it 
mean  merely  that  we  breed  millions  more  like  we 
now  have,  soulless  creatures  born  to  die  like  worms 
in  the  ground,  brains  working  automatically,  stamp- 
ing out  one  sort  of  idea,  like  machines  that  stamp 
out  buttons  —  or  mere  mouths  shouting  like  phono- 
graphs before  this  gaudy  show  of  royalty?" 

"  But,"  I  said,  "  you  speak  for  the  few  emanci- 
pated minds;  what  of  all  these  men  who  accept  the 
system  —  you  call  them  slaves,  yet  are  they  not 
content  with  their  slavery,  do  they  want  to  be  men 
of  the  world  or  continue  here  in  their  bondage  and 
die  fighting  to  keep  up  their  own  system  of  enslave- 
ment?" 

"  It  makes  no  difference  what  they  want,"  replied 
Zimmern,  in  a  voice  that  trembled  with  emotion; 
11  we  bred  them  as  slaves  to  the  kidtur  of  Germany, 
the  thing  to  do  is  to  stop  the  breeding." 

"  But  how,"  I  asked,  "  can  men  who  have  been 
beaten  into  the  mould  of  the  ox  ever  be  restored  to 
their  humanity?  " 

"  The  old  ones  cannot,"  sighed  Zimmern;  "  it  was 
always  so;  when  a  people  has  once  fallen  into  evil 
ways  the  old  generation  can  never  be  wholly   re- 


I  FIND  A  RIGHTEOUS  MAN        183 

deemed,  but  youth  can  always  be  saved  —  youth  is 
plastic." 

"  But  the  German  race,"  I  said,  "  has  not  only 
been  mis-educated,  it  has  been  mis-bred.  Can  you 
undo  inheritance  ?  Can  this  race  with  its  vast  horde 
of  workers  bred  for  a  maximum  of  muscle  and  a 
minimum  of  brains  ever  escape  from  that  stupidity 
that  has  been  bred  into  the  blood?  " 

'  You  have  been  trained  as  a  chemist,"  said  Zim- 
mern,  "  you  despair  of  the  future  because  you  do  not 
understand  the  laws  of  inheritance.  A  specialized 
type  of  man  or  animal  is  produced  from  the  selec- 
tion of  the  extreme  individuals.  That  you  know. 
But  what  you  do  not  know  is  that  the  type  once 
established  does  not  persist  of  its  own  accord.  It 
can  only  be  maintained  by  the  rigid  continuance  of 
the  selection.  The  average  stature  of  man  did  not 
change  a  centimetre  in  a  thousand  years,  till  we  came 
in  with  our  meddlesome  eugenics.  Leave  off  our 
scientific  meddling  and  the  race  will  quickly  revert 
to  the  normal  type. 

'  That  applies  to  the  physical  changes ;  in  the  men- 
tal powers  the  restoration  will  be  even  more  rapid, 
because  we  have  made  less  change  in  the  psychic 
elements  of  the  germ  plasm.  The  inborn  capacity 
of  the  human  brain  is  hard  to  alter.  Men  are  cre- 
ated more  nearly  equal  than  even  the  writers  of 
democratic  constitutions  have  ever  known.  If  the 
World  State  will  once  help  us  to  free  ourselves  from 
these  shackles  of  rigid  caste  and  cultured  ignorance, 


ii  84         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

this  folly  of  scientific  meddling  with  the  blood  and 
brains  of  man,  there  is  yet  hope  for  this  race,  for 
we  have  changed  far  less  than  we  pretend,  in  the 
marrow  we  are  human  still." 

The  old  man  sank  back  in  his  chair.  The  fire  in 
his  soul  had  burned  out.  His  hand  fumbled  for  his 
watch.  "  I  must  leave  you  now,"  he  said;  "  Mar- 
guerite should  be  back  shortly.  From  her  you  need 
conceal  nothing.  .  She  is  the  soul  of  our  hopes  and 
our  dreams.  She  keeps  our  books  safe  and  our 
hearts  fine.  Without  her  I  fear  we  should  all  have 
given  up  long  ago." 

With  a  trembling  handclasp  he  left  me  alone  in 
Marguerite's  apartment.  And  alone  too  with  my 
conflicting  and  troubled  emotions.  He  was  a  lov- 
able soul,  ripe  with  the  wisdom  of  age,  yet  youthful 
in  his  hopes  to  redeem  his  people  from  the  curse 
of  this  unholy  blend  of  socialism  and  autocracy  that 
had  prostituted  science  and  made  a  black  Utopian 
nightmare  of  man's  millennial  dream. 

Vaguely  I  wondered  how  many  of  the  three  hun- 
dred millions  of  German  souls  —  for  I  could  not 
accept  the  soulless  theory  of  Zimmern  —  were  yet 
capable  of  a  realization  of  their  humanity.  To  this 
query  there  could  be  no  answer,  but  of  one  conclu- 
sion I  was  certain,  it  was  not  my  place  to  ask  what 
these  people  wanted,  for  their  power  to  decide  was 
destroyed  by  the  infernal  process  of  their  making  — 
but  here  at  least,  my  democratic  training  easily  gave 
the  answer  that  Dr.  Zimmern  had  achieved  by  sheer 
genius,  and  my  answer  was  that  for  men  whose  de- 


I  FIND  A  RIGHTEOUS  MAN       185 

sire  for  liberty  has  been  destroyed,  liberty  must  be 
thrust  upon  them. 

But  it  remained  for  me  to  work  out  a  plan  for  so 
difficult  a  salvation.  Of  this  I  was  now  assured 
that  I  need  no  longer  work  alone,  for  as  I  had  long 
suspected,  Dr.  Zimmern  and  his  little  group  of  re- 
bellious souls  were  with  me.  But  what  could  so  few 
do  amidst  all  the  millions?  My  answer,  like  Zim- 
mern's,  was  that  the  salvation  of  Germany  lay  in 
the  enemies'  hands  —  and  I  alone  was  of  that 
enemy.  Yet  never  again  could  I  pray  for  the  de- 
struction of  the  city  at  the  hands  of  the  outraged 
god  —  Humanity.  And  I  thought  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah  which  the  God  of  Abraham  had  agreed 
to  spare  if  there  be  found  ten  righteous  men  therein. 


From  these  far-reaching  thoughts  my  mind  was 
drawn  sharply  back  to  the  fact  of  my  presence  in 
Marguerite's  apartment  and  the  realization  that  she 
would  shortly  return  to  find  me  there  alone.  I 
resented  the  fact  that  the  old  doctor  and  the  young 
woman  could  conspire  to  place  me  in  such  a  situa- 
tion. I  resented  the  fact  that  a  girl  like  Marguerite 
could  be  bound  to  a  man  three  times  her  age,  and 
yet  seem  to  accept  it  with  perfect  grace.  But  I  re- 
sented most  of  all  the  fact  that  both  she  and  Zim- 
mern appeared  to  invite  me  to  share  in  a  triangle 
of  love,  open  and  unashamed. 

My  bitter  brooding  was  disturbed  by  the  sound 
of  a  key  turning  in  the  lock,  and  Marguerite,  fresh 


1 86         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

and  charming  from  the  exhilaration  of  her  walk, 
came  into  the  room. 

"  I  am  so  glad  you  remained,"  she  said.  "  I  hope 
no  one  else  comes  and  we  can  have  the  evening  to 
ourselves." 

"  It  seems,"  I  answered  with  a  touch  of  bitter- 
ness, "  that  Dr.  Zimmern  considers  me  quite  a  safe 
playmate  for  you." 

At  my  words  Marguerite  blushed  prettily.  "  I 
know  you  do  not  quite  understand,"  she  said,  "  but 
you  see  I  am  rather  peculiarly  situated.  I  cannot 
go  out  much,  and  I  can  have  no  girl  friends  here, 
and  no  men  either  except  those  who  are  in  this  little 
group  who  know  of  our  books.  And  they,  you  see, 
are  all  rather  old,  mostly  staff  officers  like  the  doctor 
himself,  and  Col.  Hellar.  You  rank  quite  as  well 
as  some  of  the  others,  but  you  are  ever  so  much 
younger.  That  is  why  the  doctor  thinks  you  are 
so  wonderful  —  I  mean  because  you  have  risen  so 
high  at  so  early  an  age  —  but  perhaps  I  think  you 
are  rather  wonderful  just  because  you  are  young. 
Is  it  not  natural  for  young  people  to  want  friends  of 
their  own  age?  " 

"  It  is,"  I  replied  with  ill-concealed  sarcasm. 

"  Why  do  you  speak  like  that?  "  asked  Marguer- 
ite in  pained  surprise. 

"  Because  a  burnt  child  dreads  the  fire." 

"  I  do  not  understand,"  she  said,  a  puzzled  look 
in  her  eyes.  "  How  could  a  child  be  burned  by  a 
lire  since  it  could  never  approach  one.     They  only 


I  FIND  A  RIGHTEOUS  MAN       187 

have  fires  in  the  smelting  furnaces,  and  children 
could  never  go  near  them." 

Despite  my  bitter  mood  I  smiled  as  I  said:  "  It 
is  just  a  figure  of  speech  that  I  got  out  of  an  old 
book.  It  means  that  when  one  is  hurt  by  some- 
thing he  does  not  want  to  be  hurt  in  the  same  way 
again.  You  remember  what  you  said  to  me  in  the 
cafe  about  looking  up  the  girl  who  played  the  inno- 
cent role?  I  did  look  her  up,  and  you  were  right 
about  it.  She  has  been  here  three  years  and  has  a 
score  of  lovers." 

"  And  you  dropped  her?  " 

"  Of  course  I  dropped  her." 

"  And  you  have  not  found  another?  " 

"  No,  and  I  do  not  want  another,  and  I  had  not 
made  love  to  this  girl  either,  as  you  think  I  had; 
perhaps  I  would  have  done  so,  but  thanks  to  you  I 
was  warned  in  time.  I  may  be  even  younger  than 
you  think  I  am,  young  at  least  in  experience  with 
the  free  women  of  Berlin.  This  is  the  second  apart- 
ment I  have  ever  been  in  on  this  level." 

"Why  do  you  tell  me  this?"  questioned  Mar- 
guerite. 

"  Because,"  I  said  doggedly,  "  because  I  suppose 
that  I  want  you  to  know  that  I  have  spent  most  of 
my  time  in  a  laboratory.  I  also  want  you  to  know 
that  I  do  not  like  the  artful  deceit  that  you  all  seem 
to  cultivate." 

"  And  do  you  think  I  am  trying  to  deceive  you?  " 
cried  Marguerite  reproachfully. 


1 88  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

"  Your  words  may  be  true,"  I  said,  "  but  the  situ- 
ation you  place  me  in  is  a  false  one.  Dr.  Zimmern 
brings  me  here  that  I  may  read  your  books.  He 
leaves  me  alone  here  with  you  and  urges  me  to  come 
as  often  as  I  choose.  All  that  is  hard  enough,  but 
to  make  it  harder  for  me,  you  tell  me  that  you  par- 
ticularly want  my  company  because  you  have  no 
other  young  friends.  In  fact  you  practically  ask 
me  to  make  love  to  you  and  yet  you  know  why  I 
cannot." 

In  the  excitement  of  my  warring  emotions  I  had 
risen  and  was  pacing  the  floor,  and  now  as  I  reached 
the  climax  of  my  bitter  speech,  Marguerite,  with  a 
cfhoking  sob,  fled  from  the  room. 

Angered  at  the  situation  and  humiliated  by  what 
I  had  said,  I  was  on  the  point  of  leaving  at  once. 
But  a  moment  of  reflection  caused  me  to  turn  back. 
I  had  forced  a  quarrel  upon  Marguerite  and  the 
cause  for  my  anger  she  perhaps  did  not  comprehend. 
If  I  left  now  it  would  be  impossible  to  return,  and 
if  I  did  not  come  back,  there  would  be  explanations 
to  make  to  Zimmern  and  perhaps  an  ending  of  my 
association  with  him  and  his  group,  which  was  not 
only  the  sole  source  of  my  intellectual  life  outside  my 
work,  but  which  I  had  begun  to  hope  might  lead  to 
some  enterprise  of  moment  and  possibly  to  my  escape 
from  Berlin. 

So  calming  my  anger,  I  turned  to  the  library  and 
doggedly  pulled  down  a  book  and  began  scanning  its 
contents.  I  had  been  so  occupied  for  some  time, 
when  there  was  a  ring  at  the  bell.     I  peered  out 


I  FIND  A  RIGHTEOUS  MAN       189 

into  the  reception-room  in  time  to  see  Marguerite 
come  from  another  door.  Her  eyes  revealed  the 
fact  that  she  had  been  crying.  Quickly  she  closed 
the  door  of  the  little  library,  shutting  me  in  with  the 
books.  A  moment  later  she  came  in  with  a  grey- 
haired  man,  a  staff  officer  of  the  electrical  w6rks. 
She  introduced  us  coolly  and  then  helped  the  old 
man  find  a  book  he  wanted  to  take  out,  and  which 
she  entered  on  her  records. 

After  the  visitor  had  gone  Marguerite  again 
slipped  out  of  the  room  and  for  a  time  I  despaired 
of  a  chance  to  speak  to  her  before  I  felt  I  must  de- 
part. Another  hour  passed  and  then  she  stole  into 
the  library  and  seated  herself  very  quietly  on  a  litfeie 
dressing  chair  and  watched  me  as  I  proceeded  with 
my  reading. 

I  asked  her  some  questions  about  one  of  the  vol- 
umes and  she  replied  with  a  meek  and  forgiving 
voice  that  made  me  despise  myself  heartily.  Other 
questions  and  answers  followed  and  soon  we  were 
talking  again  of  books  as  if  we  had  no  overwhelming 
sense  of  the  personal  presence  of  each  other. 

The  hours  passed;  ^»y  all  my  sense  of  propriety  I 
should  have  been  long  departed,  but  still  we  talked 
Of  books  without  once  referring  to  my  heated  words 
of  the  earlier  evening. 

She  had  stood  enticingly  near  me  as  we  pulled 
down  the  volumes.  My  heart  beat  wildly  as  she 
sat  by  my  side,  while  I  mechanically  turned  the 
pages.  The  brush  of  her  garments  against  my 
sleeve  quite  maddened  me.     I  had  not  dared  to  look 


190         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

into  her  eyes,  as  I  talked  meaningless,  bookish  words. 

Summoning  all  my  self-control,  I  now  faced  her. 
"  Marguerite,"  I  said  hoarsely,  "  look  at  me." 

She  lifted  her  eyes  and  met  my  gaze  unflinchingly, 
the  moisture  of  fresh  tears  gleaming  beneath  her 
lashes. 

"  Forgive  me,"  I  entreated. 

"  For  what?"  she  asked  simply,  smiling  a  little 
through  her  tears. 

"  For  being  a  fool,"  I  declared  fiercely,  "  for  be- 
lieving your  cordiality  toward  me  as  Dr.  Zimmern's 
friend  to  mean  more  than  —  than  it  should  mean." 

"  But  I  do  not  understand,"  she  said.  "  Should  I 
not  have  told  you  that  I  liked  you  because  you  were 
young?  Of  course  if  you  don't  want  me  to  —  to 
— "  She  paused  abruptly,  her  face  suffused  with  a 
delicate  crimson. 

I  stepped  toward  her  and  reached  out  my  arms. 
But  she  drew  back  and  slipped  quickly  around  the 
table.  "  No,"  she  cried,  "  no,  you  have  said  that 
you  did  not  want  me." 

"  But  I  do,"  I  cried.     "  I  do  want  you." 

"  Then  why  did  you  say  those  things  to  me?  "  she 
asked  haughtily. 

I  gazed  at  her  across  the  narrow  table.  Was  it 
possible  that  such  a  woman  had  no  understanding 
of  ideals  of  honour  in  love?  Could  it  be  that  she 
had  no  appreciation  of  the  fight  I  had  waged,  and 
so  nearly  lost,  to  respect  the  trust  and  confidence 
that  the  old  doctor  had  placed  in  me.  With  these 
thoughts   the  ardour  of  my  passion  cooled   and  a 


I  FIND  A  RIGHTEOUS  MAN       191 

feeling  of  pity  swept  over  me,  as  I  sensed  the  trag- 
edy of  so  fine  a  woman  ethically  impoverished  by 
false  training  and  environment.  Had  she  known 
honour,  and  yet  discarded  it,  I  too  should  have  been 
unable  to  resist  the  impulse  of  youth  to  deny  to  age 
its  less  imperious  claims. 

But  either  she  chose  artfully  to  ignore  my  strug- 
gle or  she  was  truly  unaware  of  it.  In  either  case 
she  would  not  share  the  responsibility  for  the  breach 
of  faith.      I  was  puzzled  and  confounded. 

It  was  Marguerite  who  broke  the  bewildering  si- 
lence. "  I  wish  you  would  go  now,"  she  said 
coolly;  "  I  am  afraid  I  misunderstood." 

"  And  shall  I  come  again?  "  I  asked  awkwardly. 

She  looked  up  at  me  and  smiled  bravely.  '  Yes," 
she  said,  "  if  —  you  are  sure  you  wish  to." 

A  resurge  of  passionate  longing  to  take  her  in  my 
arms  swept  over  me,  but  she  held  out  her  hand  with 
such  rare  and  dignified  grace  that  I  could  only  take 
the  slender  fingers  and  press  them  hungrily  to  my 
fevered  lips  and  so  bid  her  a  wordless  adieu. 

3 

but  despite  wild  longing  to  see  her  again,  I  did 
not  return  to  Marguerite's  apartment  for  many 
weeks.  A  crisis  in  my  work  at  the  laboratory  de- 
nied me  even  a  single  hour  of  leisure  outside  brief 
snatches  of  food  and  sleep. 

I  had  previously  reported  to  the  Chemical  Staff 
that  I  had  found  means  to  increase  materially  the 
extraction  percentage  of  the  precious  element  pro- 


1 92         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

tium  from  the  crude  imported  ore.  I  had  now  re- 
ceived word  that  I  should  prepare  to  make  a  trial 
demonstration  before  the  Staff. 

Already  I  had  revealed  certain  results  of  my 
progress  to  Herr  von  Uhl,  as  this  had  been  neces- 
sary in  order  to  get  further  grants  of  the  rare  ma- 
terial and  of  expensive  equipment  needed  for  the 
research,  but  in  these  smaller  demonstrations,  I  had 
not  been  called  upon  to  disclose  my  method.  Now 
the  Staff,  hopeful  that  I  had  made  the  great  discov- 
ery, insisted  that  I  prepare  at  once  to  make  a  large 
scale  demonstration  and  reveal  the  method  that  it 
might  immediately  be  adopted  for  the  wholesale  ex- 
traction in  the  industrial  works. 

If  I  now  gave  away  the  full  secret  of  my  process, 
I  would  receive  compensation  that  would  indeed 
seem  lavish  for  a  man  whose  mental  horizon  was 
bounded  by  these  enclosing  walls;  yet  to  me  for 
whom  these  walls  would  always  be  a  prison,  credit  at 
the  banks  of  Berlin  and  the  baubles  of  decoration 
and  rank  and  social  honour  would  be  sounding  brass. 
But  I  wanted  power;  and,  with  the  secret  of  pro- 
tium  ex-traction  in  my  possession,  I  would  have  con- 
trol of  life  or  death  over  three  hundred  million  men. 
Why  should  I  sacrifice  such  power  for  useless  credit 
and  empty  honour?  If  Eitel  I  of  the  House  of  Ho- 
henzollern  would  lengthen  the  days  of  his  rule,  let 
him  deal  with  me  and  meet  whatever  terms  I  chose 
to  name,  for  in  my  chemical  retorts  I  had  brewed 
a  secret  before  which  vaunted  efficiency  and  hypo- 


I  FIND  A  RIGHTEOUS  MAN       193 

critical  divinity  could  be  made  to  bend  a  hungry 
belly  and  beg  for  food ! 

It  was  a  laudable  and  rather  thrilling  ambition, 
and  yet  I  was  not  clear  as  to  just  what  terms  I  would 
dictate,  nor  how  I  could  enforce  the  dictation.  To 
ask  for  an  audience  with  the  Emperor  now,  and 
to  take  any  such  preposterous  stand  would  merely 
be  to  get  myself  locked  up  for  a  lunatic.  But  I  rea- 
soned that  if  I  could  make  the  demonstration  so  that 
it  would  be  accepted  as  genuine  and  yet  not  give 
away  my  secret,  the  situation  would  be  in  my  hands. 
Yet  I  was  expected  to  reveal  the  process  step  by  step 
as  the  demonstration  proceeded.  There  was  but 
one  way  out  and  that  was  to  make  a  genuine  demon- 
stration, but  with  falsely  written  formulas. 

To  plan  and  prepare  such  a  demonstration  re- 
quired more  genuine  invention  than  had  the  discov- 
ery of  the  process,  but  I  set  about  the  task  with 
feverish  enthusiasm.  I  kept  my  assistants  busy  with 
the  preparation  of  the  apparatus  and  the  more  sim- 
ple work  which  there  was  no  need  to  disguise,  while 
night  after  night  I  worked  alone,  altering  and  dis- 
guising the  secret  steps  on  which  my  great  discov- 
ery hinged.  As  these  preparations  were  nearing 
completion  I  sent  for  Dr.  Zimmern  and  Col.  Hellar 
to  meet  me  at  my  apartment. 

"  Comrades,"  I  said,  "  you  have  endangered  your 
own  lives  by  confiding  in  me  your  secret  desires  to 
overthrow  the  rule  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern 
as  it  was  overthrown  once  before.     You  have  done 


i94         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

this  because  you  believed  that  I  would  have  power 
that  others  do  not  have." 

The  two  old  men  nodded  in  grave  assent. 

"  And  you  have  been  quite  fortunate  in  your 
choice,"  I  concluded,  "  for  not  only  have  I  pledged 
myself  to  your  ends,  but  I  shall  soon  possess  the 
coveted  power.  In  a  few  days  I  shall  demonstrate 
my  process  on  a  large  scale  before  the  Chemical 
Staff.  But  I  shall  do  this  thing  without  revealing 
the  method.  The  formulas  I  shall  give  them  will 
be  meaningless.  As  long  as  I  am  in  charge  in  my 
own  laboratory  the  process  will  be  a  success;  when 
it  is  tried  elsewhere  it  will  fail,  until  I  choose  to 
make  further  revelations. 

"  So  you  see,  for  a  time,  unless  I  be  killed  or  tor- 
tured into  confession,  I  shall  have  great  power. 
How  then  may  I  use  that  power  to  help  you  in  the 
cause  to  which  we  are  pledged?  " 

The  older  men  seemed  greatly  impressed  with  my 
declaration  and  danced  about  me  and  cried  with  joy. 
When  they  had  regained  their  composure  Zimmern 
said:  "There  is  but  one  thing  you  can  do  for  us 
and  that  is  to  find  some  way  to  get  word  of  the  pro- 
tium  mines  to  the  authorities  of  the  World  State. 
Berlin  will  then  be  at  their  mercy,  but  whatever  hap- 
pens can  be  no  worse  than  the  continuance  of  things 
as  they  are." 

"  But  how,"  I  said,  "  can  a  message  be  sent  from 
Berlin  to  the  outer  world?  " 

"  There  is  only  one  way,"  replied  Hellar,  "  and 
that  is  by  the  submarines  that  go  out  for  this  ore. 


I  FIND  A  RIGHTEOUS  MAN       195 

The  Submarine  Staff  are  members  of  the  Royal 
House.  So,  indeed,  are  the  captains.  We  have 
tried  for  years  to  gain  the  confidence  of  some  of 
these  men,  but  without  avail.  Perhaps  through  your 
work  on  the  protium  ore  you  can  succeed  where  we 
have  failed." 

"  And  how,"  I  asked  eagerly,  "  do  the  ore- 
bringing  vessels  get  from  Berlin  to  the  sea?" 

My  visitors  glanced  at  each  other  significantly. 
"Do  you  not  know  that?"  exclaimed  Zimmern. 
"  We  had  supposed  you  would  have  been  told  when 
you  were  assigned  to  the  protium  research." 

By  way  of  answer  I  explained  that  I  knew  the 
source  of  the  ore  but  not  the  route  of  its  coming. 

"  All  such  knowledge  is  suppressed  in  books," 
commented  Hellar;  "we  older  men  know  of  this 
by  word  of  mouth  from  the  days  when  the  sub- 
marine tunnel  was  completed  to  the  sea,  but  you  are 
younger.  Unless  this  was  told  you  at  the  time  you 
were  assigned  the  work  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that 
you  would  know." 

I  questioned  Hellar  and  Zimmern  closely  but 
found  that  all  they  knew  was  that  a  submarine  tunnel 
did  exist  leading  from  Berlin  somewhere  into  the 
open  sea;  but  its  exact  location  they  did  not  know. 
Again  I  pressed  my  question  as  to  what  I  could 
do  with  the  power  of  my  secret  and  they  could  only 
repeat  that  they  staked  their  hopes  on  getting  word 
to  the  outer  world  by  way  of  submarines. 

Much  as  I  might  admire  the  strength  of  charac- 
ter that  would  lead  men  to  rebel  against  the  only 


196  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

life  they  knew  because  they  sensed  that  it  was  hope- 
less, I  now  found  myself  a  little  exasperated  at  the 
vagueness  of  their  plans.  Yet  I  had  none  better. 
To  defy  the  Emperor  would  merely  be  to  risk  my 
life  and  the  possible  loss  of  my  knowledge  to  the 
world.  Perhaps  after  all  the  older  heads  were 
wiser  than  my  own  rebellious  spirit;  and  so,  without 
making  any  more  definite  plans,  I  ended  the  inter- 
view with  a  promise  to  let  them  know  of  the  out- 
come of  the  demonstration. 

Returning  once  more  to  my  work  I  finished  my 
preparations  and  sent  word  to  the  Chemical  Staff 
that  all  was  ready.  They  came  with  solemn  faces. 
The  laboratory  was  locked  and  guards  were  posted. 
The  place  was  examined  thoroughly,  the  apparatus 
was  studied  in  detail.  All  my  ingredients  were 
tested  for  the  presence  of  extracted  protium,  lest  I 
be  trying  to  "  salt  the  mine."  But  happily  for  me 
they  accepted  my  statement  as  to  their  chemical  na- 
ture in  other  respects.  Then  when  all  had  been 
approved  the  test  lot  of  ore  was  run.  It  took  us 
thirty  hours  to  run  the  extraction  and  sample  and 
weigh  and  test  the  product.  But  everything  went 
through  exactly  as  I  had  planned. 

With  solemn  faces  the  Chemical  Staff  unanimously 
declared  that  the  problem  had  been  solved  and  mar- 
velled that  the  solution  should  come  from  the  brain 
of  so  young  a  man.  And  so  I  received  their  adula- 
tion and  worship,  for  I  could  not  give  credit  to  the 
chemists  of  the  world  outside  to  whom  I  was  really 
indebted  for  my  seeming  miraculous  genius.     Tell- 


I  FIND  A  RIGHTEOUS  MAN       197 

ing  me  to  take  my  rest  and  prepare  myself  for  an 
audience  with  His  Majesty  three  days  later,  the 
Chemical  Staff  departed,  carrying,  with  guarded  se- 
crecy, my  false  formulas. 

4 
Exultant  and  happy  I  left  the  laboratory.  I  had 
not  slept  for  forty  hours  and  scarcely  half  my  regu- 
lar allotment  for  many  weeks.  And  yet  I  was  not 
sleepy  now  but  awake  and  excited.  I  had  won  a 
great  victory,  and  I  wanted  to  rejoice  and  share  my 
conquest  with  sympathetic  ears.  I  could  go  to  Zim- 
mern,  but  instead  I  turned  my  steps  toward  the  ele- 
vator and,  alighting  on  the  Level  of  the  Free 
Women,  I  went  straightway  to  Marguerite's  apart- 
ment. 

Despite  my  feeling  of  exhilaration,  my  face  must 
have  revealed  something  of  my  real  state  of  exhaus- 
tion, for  Marguerite  cried  in  alarm  at  the  sight  of 
me. 

"  A  little  tired,"  I  replied,  in  answer  to  her  soli- 
citous questions;  "I  have  just  finished  my  demon- 
stration before  the  Chemical  Staff." 

"  And  you  won?  "  cried  Marguerite  in  a  burst  of 
joy.  "  You  deceived  them  just  as  the  doctor  said 
you  would.  And  they  know  you  have  solved  the 
protium  problem  and  they  do  not  know  how  you 
did  it?" 

"  That  is  correct,"  I  said,  sinking  back  into  the 
cushions  of  the  divan.  "  I  have  done  all  that.  I 
came  here  first  to  tell  you.     You  see  I  could  not 


198         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

come  before,  all  these  weeks,  I  have  had  no  time  for 
sleep  or  anything.  I  would  have  telephoned  or  writ- 
ten but  I  feared  it  would  not  be  safe.  Did  you 
think  I  was  not  coming  again?  " 

"  I  missed  you  at  first, —  I  mean  at  first  I  thought 
you  were  staying  away  because  you  did  not  want  to 
see  me,  and  then  Dr.  Zimmern  told  me  what  you 
were  doing,  and  I  understood  —  and  waited,  for  I 
somehow  knew  you  would  come  as  soon  as  you 
could." 

"  Yes,  of  course  you  knew.  Of  course,  I  had  to 
come  —  Marguerite  — "  But  Marguerite  faded  be- 
fore my  vision.  I  reached  out  my  hand  for  her  — 
and  it  seemed  to  wave  in  empty  space.   .   .   . 

5 

When  I  awoke,  I  was  lying  on  a  couch  and  a 
screen  bedecked  with  cupids  was  standing  before  me. 
At  first  I  thought  I  was  alone  and  then  I  realized 
that  I  was  in  Marguerite's  apartment  and  that  Mar- 
guerite herself  was  seated  on  a  low  stool  beside  the 
couch  and  gazing  at  me  out  of  dreamy  eyes. 

"  How  did  I  get  here?  "  I  asked. 

"  You  fell  asleep  while  you  were  talking,  and  then 
some  one  came  for  books,  and  when  the  bell  rang 
I  hid  you  with  the  screen." 

"  How  long  hav  e  I  slept  ?  " 

"  For  many  hours,"  she  answered. 

"  I  ought  not  to  have  come,"  I  said,  but  despite 
my  remark  I  made  no  haste  to  go,  but  reached  out 
and  ran  my  fingers  through  her  massy  hair.     And 


I  FIND  A  RIGHTEOUS  MAN       199 

then  I  slowly  drew  her  toward  me  until  her  luxuriant 
locks  were  tumbled  about  my  neck  and  face  and  her 
head  was  pillowed  on  my  breast. 

"  I  am  so  happy,"  she  whispered.  "  I  am  so  glad 
you  came  first  to  me." 

For  a  moment  my  reason  was  drugged  by  the 
opiate  of  her  touch;  and  then,  as  the  realization  of 
the  circumstances  re-formed  in  my  brain,  the  feel- 
ing of  guilt  arose  and  routed  the  dreamy  bliss.  Yet 
I  could  only  blame  myself,  for  there  was  no  guile  in 
her  act  or  word,  nor  could  I  believe  there  was  guile 
in  her  heart.  Gently  I  pushed  her  away  and  arose, 
stating  that  I  must  leave  at  once. 

It  was  plainly  evident  that  Marguerite  did  not 
share  my  sense  of  embarrassment,  that  she  was 
aware  of  no  breach  of  ethics.  But  her  ease  only 
served  to  impress  upon  me  the  greater  burden  of 
my  responsibility  and  emphasize  the  breach  of  hon- 
our of  which  I  was  guilty  in  permitting  this  expres- 
sion of  my  love  to  a  woman  whom  circumstances  had 
bound  to  Zimmern. 

Pleading  need  for  rest  and  for  time  to  plan  my 
interview  with  His  Majesty,  I  hastened  away,  feel- 
ing that  I  dare  not  trust  myself  alone  with  her  again. 


I  returned  to  my  own  apartment,  and  when  an- 
other day  had  passed,  food  and  sleep  had  fully  re- 
stored me  to  a  normal  state.  I  then  recalled  my 
promise  to  inform  Hellar  and  Zimmern  of  the  out- 
come of  my  demonstration.     I  called  at  Zimmern's 


200         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

quarters  but  he  was  not  at  home.     Hence  I  went  to 
call  on  Hellar,  to  ask  of  Zimmern's  whereabouts. 

"  I  have  an  appointment  to  meet  him  tonight," 
said  Hellar,  "  on  the  Level  of  Free  Women.  Will 
you  not  come  along?  " 

I  could  not  well  do  otherwise  than  accept,  and 
Hellar  led  me  again  to  the  apartment  from  which 
I  had  fled  twenty-four  hours  before.  There  we 
found  Zimmern,  who  received  me  with  his  usual 
graciousness. 

11 1  have  already  heard  from  Marguerite,"  said 
Zimmern,  "  of  your  success." 

I  glanced  apprehensively  at  the  girl  but  she  was 
in  no  wise  disturbed,  and  proceeded  to  relate  for 
Hellar's  information  the  story  of  my  coming  to  her 
exhausted  from  my  work  and  of  my  falling  asleep 
in  her  apartment.  All  of  them  seemed  to  think  it 
amusing,  but  there  was  no  evidence  that  any  one 
considered  it  the  least  improper.  Their  matter-of- 
fact  attitude  puzzled  and  annoyed  me;  they  seemed 
to  treat  the  incident  as  if  it  had  been  the  experience 
of  a  couple  of  children. 

This  angered  me,  for  it  seemed  proof  that  they 
considered  Marguerite's  love  as  the  common  prop- 
erty of  any  and  all. 

"  Could  it  be,"  I  asked  myself,  "  that  jealousy  has 
been  bred  and  trained  out  of  this  race?  Is  it  pos- 
sible they  have  killed  the  instinct  that  demands  pri- 
vate and  individual  property  in  love?"  Even  as  I 
pondered  the  problem  it  seemed  answered,  for  as  I 
sat  and  talked  with   Zimmern   and  Hellar  of  my 


I  FIND  A  RIGHTEOUS  MAN       201 

chemical  demonstration  and  the  coming  interview 
with  His  Majesty,  Marguerite  came  and  seated  her- 
self on  the  arm  of  my  chair  and  pillowed  her  head 
on  my  shoulder. 

Troubled  and  embarrassed,  yet  not  having  the 
courage  to  repulse  her  caresses,  I  stared  at  Zimmern, 
who  smiled  on  us  with  indulgence.  In  fact  it  seemed 
that  he  actually  enjoyed  the  scene.  My  anger 
flamed  up  against  him,  but  for  Marguerite  I  had 
only  pity,  for  her  action  seemed  so  natural  and  un- 
affected that  I  could  not  believe  that  she  was  making 
sport  of  me,  and  could  only  conclude  that  she  had 
been  so  bred  in  the  spirit  of  the  place  that  she  knew 
nothing  else. 

My  talk  with  the  men  ended  as  had  the  last  one, 
without  arriving  at  any  particular  plan  of  action, 
and  when  Hellar  arose  first  to  go,  I  took  the  oppor- 
tunity to  escape  from  what  to  me  was  an  intolerable 
situation. 

7 

I  separated  from  Hellar  and  for  an  hour  or  more 
I  wandered  on  the  level.  Then  resolving  to  end 
the  strain  of  my  enigmatical  position  I  turned  again 
toward  Marguerite's  apartment.  She  answered  my 
ring.     I  entered  and  found  her  alone. 

"  Marguerite,"  I  began,  "  I  cannot  stand  this  in- 
tolerable situation.  I  cannot  share  the  love  of  a 
woman  with  another  man  —  I  cannot  steal  a  wom- 
an's love  from  a  man  who  is  my  friend  — " 

At  this  outburst  Marguerite  only  stared  at  me  in 


202         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

puzzled  amazement.      "  Then  you  do  not  want  me 
to  love  you,"  she  stammered. 

"  God  knows,"  I  cried,  "  how  I  do  want  you  to 
love  me,  but  it  must  not  be  while  Dr.  Zimmern 
is  alive  and  you  — " 

"  So,"  said  a  voice  —  and  glancing  up  I  saw  Zim- 
mern himself  framed  in  the  doorway  of  the  book, 
room.  The  old  doctor  looked  from  me  to  Mar- 
guerite, while  a  smile  beamed  on  his  courtly  counte- 
nance. 

"  Sit  down  and  calm  yourself,  Armstadt,"  said 
Zimmern.  "  It  is  time  I  spoke  to  you  of  Marguer- 
ite and  of  the  relation  I  bear  to  her.  As  you  know, 
I  brought  her  to  this  level  from  the  school  for  girls 
of  forbidden  birth.  But  what  you  do  not  know  is 
that  she  was  born  on  the  Royal  Level. 

"  I  knew  Marguerite's  mother.  She  was  Princess 
Fedora,  a  third  cousin  of  the  Empress.  I  was  her 
physician,  for  I  have  not  always  been  in  the  Eugenic 
Service.  But  Marguerite  was  born  out  of  wedlock, 
and  the  mother  declined  to  name  the  father  of  her 
child.  Because  of  that  the  child  was  consigned  to 
the  school  for  forbidden  love-children,  which  meant 
that  she  would  be  fated  for  the  life  of  a  free  woman 
and  become  the  property  of  such  men  as  had  the 
price  to  pay. 

11  When  her  child  was  taken  away  from  her,  the 
mother  killed  herself;  and  because  I  declined  to 
testify  as  to  what  I  knew  of  the  case  I  lost  my  com- 
mission as  a  physician  of  Royalty.  But  still  having 
the  freedom  of  the  school  levels,  I  was  permitted 


I  FIND  A  RIGHTEOUS  MAN        203 

to  keep  track  of  Marguerite.  As  soon  as  she 
reached  the  age  of  her  freedom  I  brought  her  here, 
and  by  the  aid  of  her  splendid  birth  and  the  com- 
panionship of  thinking  men  she  has  become  the 
woman  you  now  find  her." 

In  my  jealousy  I  had  listened  to  the  first  words 
df  the  old  doctor  with  but  little  comprehension.  But 
as  he  talked  on  so  calmly  and  kindly  an  eager  hope 
leaped  up  within  me.  Was  it  possible  that  it  had 
been  I  who  had  misunderstood  —  and  that  Zim- 
mern's  love  for  Marguerite  was  of  another  sort  than 
mine? 

Tensely  I  awaited  his  further  words,  but  I  did 
not  dare  to  look  at  Marguerite,"  who  had  taken  her 
place  beside  him. 

"  I  brought  her  here,"  Zimmern  continued,  "  for 
there  was  no  other  place  where  she  could  go  except 
into  the  keeping  of  some  man.  I  have  given  her 
the  work  of  guarding  our  books,  and  for  that  I 
could  have  well  afforded  to  pay  for  her  living. 

"  You  find  in  Marguerite  a  woman  of  intelligence, 
and  there  are  few  enough  like  her.  And  she  finds 
in  you  a  man  of  rare  gifts,  and  you  are  both  young, 
so  it  is  not  strange  that  you  two  should  love  each 
other.  All  this  I  considered  before  I  brought  you 
here  to  meet  her.  I  was  happy  when  Marguerite 
told  me  that  it  was  so.  But  your  happiness  is 
marred,  because  you,  Armstadt,  think  that  I  am  in 
the  way;  you  have  believed  that  I  bear  the  relation 
to  Marguerite  that  the  fact  of  my  paying  for  her 
presence  on  this  level  would  imply. 


204         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

"  It  speaks  well  of  your  honour,"  the  doctor  went 
on,  "  that  you  have  felt  as  you  did.  I  should  have 
explained  sooner,  but  I  did  not  wish  to  speak  of  this 
until  it  was  necessary  to  Marguerite's  happiness. 
But  now  that  I  have  spoken  there  is  nothing  to  stand 
in  the  way  of  your  happiness,  for  Marguerite  is  as 
worthy  of  your  love  as  if  she  had  but  made  her 
debut  on  the  Royal  Level  to  which  she  was  born. 
As  for  what  is  to  be  between  you,  I  can  only  leave 
it  to  the  best  that  is  in  yourselves,  and  whatever 
that  may  be  has  my  blessing." 

As  I  listened  to  the  doctor's  words  entranced  with 
rapture,  the  vision  of  Marguerite  floated  hazily  be- 
fore my  eyes  as  if  she  were  an  ethereal  essence  that 
might,  at  any  moment,  be  snatched  away.  But  as 
the  doctor's  words  ceased  my  eyes  met  Marguerite's 
and  all  else  seemed  to  fade  but  the  love  light  that 
shone  from  out  their  liquid  depths. 

Forgetting  utterly  the  presence  of  the  man  whose 
words  had  set  us  free,  our  hearts  reached  out  with 
hungry  arms  to  claim  their  own. 

For  us,  time  lost  her  reckoning  amidst  our  tears 
and  kisses,  and  when  my  brain  at  last  made  known 
to  me  the  existence  of  other  souls  than  ours,  I  looked 
up  and  found  that  we  were  alone.  A  saucy  little 
clock  ticked  rhythmically  on  a  mantel.  I  felt  an 
absurd  desire  to  smash  it,  for  the  impudent  thing 
had  been  running  all  the  while. 


CHAPTER  IX 

IN  WHICH    I    SALUTE    THE    STATUE    OF   GOD   AND    A 

PSYCHIC  EXPERT  EXPLORES  MY  BRAIN  AND 

FINDS    NOTHING 


THE  Chemical  Staff  called  for  me  at  my  lab- 
oratory to  conduct  me  to  the  presence  of 
the  Emperor.  At  the  elevator  we  were 
met  by  an  electric  vehicle  manned  fore  and  aft  by 
pompous  guards.  Through  the  wide,  high  streets 
we  rolled  noiselessly  past  the  decorated  facades  of 
the  spacious  apartments  that  housed  the  seventeen 
thousand  members  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern. 

At  times  the  ample  streets  broadened  into  still 
more  roomy  avenues  where  potted  trees  alternated 
with  the  frescoed  columns,  and  beyond  which  were 
luxurious  gardens  and  vast  statuary  halls.  On  the 
Level  of  Free  Women  the  life  was  one  of  crowded 
revelry,  of  the  bauble  and  delights  of  carnival,  but 
on  the  Royal  Level  there  was  an  atmosphere  of 
luxurious  leisure,  with  vast  spaces  given  over  to  the 
privacy  of  aristocratic  idleness. 

An  occasional  vehicle  rolled  swiftly  past  us  on 
the  glassy  smoothness  of  the  pavement;  more  rarely 
lonely  couples  strolled  among  the  potted  trees  or  sat 
in  dreamy  indolence  beside  the  fountains.  There 
was  no  crowding,  no  mass  of  humanity,  no  narrow 

aos 


206         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

halls,  no  congested  apartments.  All  structure  here 
was  on  a  scale  of  magnificent  size  and  distances, 
while  by  comparison  the  men  and  women  appeared 
dwarfed,  but  withal  distinctive  in  their  costumes  and 
regal  in  their  leisurely  idleness. 

After  some  kilometres  of  travel  we  came  to  His 
Majesty's  palace,  which  stood  detached  from  all 
other  enclosed  structures  and  was  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  ever-necessary  columns  that  seemed  like  a 
forest  of  tree  trunks  spaced  and  distanced  in  geo- 
metrical design. 

As  we  approached  the  massive  doorwav  of  the 
palace,  our  party  paused,  and  stood  stifliy  ^rect. 
Before  us  were  two  colossal  statues  of  glistening 
white  crystal.  My  fellow  scientists  faced  one  of 
the  figures,  which  I  recognized  as  that  of  William 
II,  and  I,  a  little  tardily,  saluted  with  them.  And 
now  we  turned  sharply  on  our  heels  and  saluted  the 
second  figure  of  these  twin  German  heroes.  For 
German  it  was  unmistakably  in  every  feature,  save 
for  the  one  oddity  that  the  Teutonic  face  wore  a 
flowing  beard  not  unlike  that  of  Michael  Angelo's 
Moses.  As  we  moved  forward  my  eye  swept  in  the 
lettering  on  the  pedestal,"  Unser  Alte  Deutche 
Gott,"  and  I  was  aware  that  I  had  acknowledged 
my  allegience  to  the  supreme  war  lord  —  I  had  sa- 
luted the  Statue  of  God. 

Entering  the  palace  we  were  conducted  through  a 
long  hall-way  hung  with  floral  tapestries.  We 
passed  through  several  great  metal  doors  guarded 
by  stalwart  leaden-faced  men  and  came  at  last  into 


I  SALUTE  THE  STATUE  OF  GOD    207 

the  imperial  audience  room,  where  His  Majesty, 
Eitel  I,  satellited  by  his  ministers,  sat  stiff  and 
upright  at  the  head  of  the  council  table. 

Though  he  had  seemed  a  small  man  when  I  had 
seen  him  in  the  dazzling  beam  of  the  reflected  sun- 
light, I  now  perceived  that  he  was  of  more  than 
average  stature.  He  wore  no  crown  and  no  helmet, 
but  only  a  crop  of  stiff  iron  grey  hair  brushed  boldly 
upright.  His  face  was  stern,  his  nose  beak-like,  and 
his  small  eyes  grey  and  piercing.  Over  the  high 
back  of  his  chair  was  thrown  his  cape,  and  he  was 
clad  in  a  jacket  of  white  cellulose  velvet  buttoned 
to  the  throat  with  large  platinum  buttons. 

Formally  presented  by  one  of  the  secretaries  we 
made  our  stiff  bows  and  were  seated  at  the  table 
facing  His  Majesty  across  the  unlittered  surface 
of  black  glass. 

The  Emperor  nodded  to  the  Chief  of  the  Chem- 
ical Staff  who  arose  and  read  the  report  of  my  solu- 
tion of  the  protium  problem.  He  ended  by  advising 
that  the  process  should  immediately  replace  the  one 
then  in  use  in  the  extraction  of  the  ore  in  the  in- 
dustrial works  and  that  I  was  recommended  for 
promotion  to  the  place  to  be  vacated  by  the  retiring 
member  of  the  Chemical  Staff  and  should  be  given 
full  charge  of  the  protium  industry. 

Emperor  Eitel  listened  with  solemn  nods  of  ap- 
proval. When  the  reading  was  finished  he  arose 
and  proclaimed  the  retirement  with  honour,  and 
because  of  his  advanced  age,  of  Herr  von  Uhl.  The 
old  chemist  now  stepped  forward  and  the  Emperor 


208         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

removed  from  von  Uhl's  breast  the  insignia  of  active 
Staff  service  and  replaced  it  with  the  insignia  of  hon- 
ourable retirement. 

In  my  turn  I  also  stood  before  His  Majesty,  who 
when  he  had  pinned  upon  my  breast  the  Staff  in- 
signia said:  "  I  hereby  commission  you  as  Member 
of  the  Chemical  Staff  and  Director  of  the  Protium 
Works.  Against  the  fortune,  to  be  accredited  to 
you  and  your  descendants,  you  are  authorized  to 
draw  from  the  Imperial  Bank  a  million  marks  a 
year.  That  you  shall  more  graciously  befit  this  for- 
tune I  confer  upon  you  the  title  of  '  von  '  and  the 
social  privilege  of  the  Royal  Level." 

When  the  formal  ceremonies  were  ended  I  again 
arose  and  addressed  the  Emperor.  "  Your  Maj- 
esty," I  said,  as  I  looked  unflinchingly  at  his  iron 
visage,  "  I  beg  leave  to  make  a  personal  petition." 

"  State  it,"  commanded  the  Emperor. 

"  I  wish  to  ask  that  you  restore  to  the  Royal  Level 
a  girl  who  is  now  in  the  Level  of  the  Free  Women, 
and  known  there  as  Marguerite  78  K  4,  but  who  was 
born  on  the  Royal  Level  as  a  daughter  of  Princess 
Fedora  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern." 

A  hush  of  consternation  fell  upon  those  about  the 
table. 

"  Your  petition,"  said  the  Emperor,  "  cannot  be 
granted." 

"  Then,"  I  said,  speaking  with  studied  emphasis, 
"  I  cannot  proceed  with  the  work  of  extracting  pro- 
tium." 

An  angry  cloud  gathered  on  the  face  of  Eitel  I. 


I  SALUTE  THE  STATUE  OF  GOD    209 

"  Herr  von  Armstadt,"  he  said,  "  the  title  and 
awards  which  have  just  been  conferred  upon  you 
are  irrevocable.  But  if  you  decline  to  perform  the 
duties  of  your  office  those  duties  can  be  performed 
by  others." 

"  But  others  cannot  perform  them,"  I  replied. 
"  The  demonstration  I  conducted  was  genuine,  but 
the  formulas  I  have  given  were  not  genuine.  The 
true  formulas  for  my  method  of  extracting  protium 
are  locked  within  my  brain  and  I  will  reveal  them 
only  when  the  petition  I  ask  has  been  granted." 

At  these  words  the  Emperor  pounded  on  the  table 
with  a  heavy  fist.  "  What  does  this  mean?  "  he  de- 
manded of  the  Chemical  Staff. 

"  It  is  a  lie,"  shouted  the  Chief  of  the  Staff. 
"  We  have  the  formulas  and  they  are  correct,  for  we 
saw  the  demonstration  conducted  with  the  ingredi- 
ents stated  in  the  formulas  which  Armstadt  gave 
us." 

"  Very  well,"  I  cried;  "  go  try  your  formulas;  go 
repeat  the  demonstration,  if  you  can." 

The  Emperor,  glaring  his  rage,  punched  savagely 
at  a  signal  button  on  the  arm  of  his  chair. 

Two  palace  guards  answered  the  summons. 
"  Arrest  this  man,"  shouted  His  Majesty,  "  and 
keep  him  in  close  confinement;  permit  him  to  see  no 
one." 

Without  further  ado  I  was  led  off  by  the  guards, 
while  the  Emperor  shouted  imprecations  at  the 
Chemical  Staff. 


no         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 


The  place  to  which  I  was  conducted  was  a  suite 
of  rooms  in  a  remote  corner  of  the  Royal  Palace. 
There  was  a  large  bedroom  and  bath,  and  a  luxurious 
study  or  lounging  room.  Here  I  found  a  case  of 
books,  which  proved  to  be  novels  bearing  the  im- 
print of  the  Royal  Level. 

Despite  the  comfortable  surroundings,  it  was  evi- 
dent that  I  was  securely  imprisoned,  for  the  door 
was  of  metal,  the  ventilating  gratings  were  long 
narrow  slits,  and  the  walls  were  of  heavy  concrete 
—  and  there  being  no  windows,  no  bars  were  needed. 
Any  living  apartment  in  the  city  would  have  served 
equally  well  the  jailor's  purpose;  for  it  were  only 
necessary  to  turn  a  key  from  without  to  make  of  it 
a  cell  in  this  gigantic  prison  of  Berlin. 

The  regular  appearance  of  my  meals  by  mechan- 
ical carrier  was  the  only  way  I  had  to  reckon  the 
passing  of  time,  for  it  had  chanced  that  I  had  for- 
gotten my  watch  when  dressing  for  the  audience 
with  His  Majesty.  I  wrestled  with  unmeasured 
time  by  perusing  the  novels  which  gave  me  frag- 
mentary pictures  of  the  social  life  on  the  Royal 
Level. 

As  I  turned  over  the  situation  in  my  mind  I  re- 
assured myself  that  the  secrecy  of  my  formulas  was 
impregnable.  The  discovery  of  the  process  had 
been  rendered  possible  by  knowledge  I  had  brought 
with  me  from  the  outer  world.  The  re-agents  that 
I  had  used  were  synthetic  substances,  the  very  exist- 


I  SALUTE  THE  STATUE  OF  GOD     211 

ence  of  which  was  unknown  to  the  Germans.  I  had 
previously  prepared  these  compounds  and  had  used 
and  completely  destroyed  them  in  making  the  dem- 
onstration, while  I  had  taken  pains  to  remove  all 
traces  of  their  preparation.  Hence  I  had  little  to 
fear  of  the  Chemical  Staff  duplicating  my  work, 
though  doubtless  they  were  making  desperate  efforts 
to  do  so,  and  my  imprisonment  was  very  evidently 
for  the  purpose  of  permitting  them  to  make  that 
effort. 

On  that  score  I  felt  that  I  had  played  my  cards 
well,  but  there  were  other  thoughts  that  troubled 
me,  chief  of  which  was  a  fear  that  some  investiga- 
tion might  be  set  on  foot  in  regard  to  Marguerite 
and  that  her  guardianship  of  the  library  of  forbidden 
books  might  be  discovered.  With  this  worry  to 
torment  me,  the  hours  dragged  slowly  enough. 

I  had  been  some  five  days  in  this  solitary  confine- 
ment when  the  door  opened  and  a  man  entered. 
He  wore  the  uniform  of  a  physician  and  introduced 
himself  as  Dr.  Boehm,  explaining  that  he  had  been 
sent  by  His  Majesty  to  look  after  my  health.  The 
idea  rather  amused  me;  at  least,  I  thought,  the  Em- 
peror had  decided  that  the  secrets  of  my  brain  were 
well  worth  preservation,  and  I  reasoned  that  this 
was  evidence  that  the  Chemical  Staff  had  made  an 
effort  to  duplicate  my  work  and  had  reported  their 
failure  to  do  so. 

The  doctor  made  what  seemed  to  me  a  rather  per- 
functory physical  examination,  which  included  a  very 
minute   inspection   of  my  eyes.     Then  he   put   me 


212         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

through  a  series  of  psychological  test  queries. 
When  he  had  finished  he  sighed  deeply  and  said: 
"  I  am  sorry  to  find  that  you  are  suffering  from  a 
disturbed  balance  of  the  altruistic  and  the  egotistic 
cortical  impulses;  it  is  doubtless  due  to  the  intensive 
demands  made  upon  the  creative  potential  before 
you  were  completely  recovered  from  the  sub-normal 
psychosis  due  to  the  gas  attack  in  the  potash  mines." 

This  diagnosis  impressed  me  as  a  palpable  fraud, 
but  I  became  genuinely  alarmed  at  the  mention  of 
the  affair  at  the  potash  mines.  I  was  somewhat  re- 
assured at  the  thought  that  this  reference  was  prob- 
ably a  part  of  the  record  of  Karl  Armstadt,  which 
was  doubtless  on  file  at  the  medical  headquarters, 
and  had  been  looked  up  by  Dr.  Boehm  who  was  in 
need  of  making  out  a  plausible  case  for  some  pur- 
pose —  perhaps  that  of  confining  me  permanently  on 
the  grounds  of  insanity.  Whatever  might  be  the 
move  on  foot  it  was  clearly  essential  for  me  to  keep 
myself  cool  and  well  in  hand. 

The  doctor,  after  eyeing  me  calmly  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, said:  "  It  will  be  necessary  for  me  to  go 
out  for  a  time  and  secure  apparatus  for  a  more 
searching  examination.  Meanwhile  be  assured  you 
will  not  be  further  neglected.  In  fact,  I  shall  ar- 
range for  the  time  to  share  your  apartment  with  you, 
as  loneliness  will  aggravate  your  derangement." 

In  a  few  hours  the  doctor  returned.  He  brought 
with  him  a  complicated-looking  apparatus  and  was 
followed  by  two  attendants  carrying  a  bed. 

The  doctor  pushed  the  apparatus  into  the  corner, 


I  SALUTE  THE  STATUE  OF  GOD    213 

and,  after  seeing  his  bed  installed  in  my  sleeping 
chamber,  dismissed  the  attendants  and  sat  down  and 
began  to  entertain  me  with  accounts  of  various  cases 
of  mental  derangement  that  had  come  under  his 
care.  So  far  as  I  could  determine  his  object,  if  he 
had  any  other  than  killing  time,  it  was  to  impress 
me  with  the  importance  of  submitting  graciously  to 
his  care. 

Tiring  of  these  stories  of  the  doctor's  professional 
successes  with  meek  and  trusting  patients,  I  took  the 
management  of  the  conversation  into  my  own  hands. 

"  Since  you  are  a  psychic  expert,  Dr.  Boehm,  per- 
haps you  can  explain  to  me  the  mental  processes  that 
cause  a  man  to  prize  a  large  bank  credit  when  there 
is  positively  no  legal  way  in  which  he  can  expend 
the  credit." 

The  doctor  looked  at  me  quizzically.  "  How  do 
you  mean,"  he  asked,  "  that  there  is  no  legal  way 
in  which  he  can  expend  the  credit?  " 

"  Well,  take  my  own  case.  The  Emperor  has 
bestowed  upon  me  a  credit  of  a  million  marks  a 
year.  But  I  risked  losing  it  by  demanding  that  a 
young  woman  of  the  Free  Level  be  restored  to  the 
Royal  Level  where  she  was  born." 

"  Of  this  I  am  aware,"  replied  the  psychic  physi- 
cian. "  That  is  why  His  Majesty  became  alarmed 
lest  your  mental  equilibrium  be  disturbed.  It  seems 
to  indicate  an  atavistic  reversion  to  a  condition  of 
romantic  altruism,  but  as  your  pedigree  is  normal, 
I  deem  it  merely  a  temporary  loss  of  balance." 

"  But  why,"   I   asked,   "  do  you   consider   it   ab- 


214         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

normal  at  all?  Is  there  evidence  of  any  great  de- 
gree of  unselfishness  in  a  man  desiring  the  bestowal 
of  happiness  upon  a  particular  woman  in  preference 
to  bank  credit  which  he  cannot  expend?  What 
should  I  do  with  a  million  marks  a  year  when  I 
have  been  unable  to  expend  the  ten  thousand  a  year 
I  have  had?" 

"  Ah,"  exclaimed  the  doctor,  the  light  of  a  bril- 
liant discovery  breaking  over  his  countenance. 
"  Perhaps  this  in  a  measure  explains  your  case. 
You  have  evidently  been  so  absorbed  in  your  work 
that  you  have  not  sufficiently  developed  your  appe- 
tite for  personal  enjoyment." 

11  Perhaps  I  have  not.  But  just  how  should  I 
expend  more  funds;  food,  clothing,  living  quarters 
are  all  provided  me,  there  is  nothing  but  a  few 
tawdry  amusements  that  one  can  buy,  nor  is  there 
any  one  to  give  the  money  to  —  even  if  a  man  had 
children  they  cannot  inherit  his  wealth.  Just  what 
is  money  for,  anyway?  " 

The  doctor  nodded  his  head  and  smiled  in  satis- 
faction. "  You  ask  interesting  questions,"  he  said. 
"  I  shall  try  to  answer  them.  Money  or  bank  credit 
is  merely  a  symbol  of  wealth.  In  ancient  times 
wealth  was  represented  by  the  private  ownership 
of  physical  property,  which  was  the  basis  of  capi- 
talistic or  competitive  society.  Racial  progress  was 
then  achieved  by  the  mating  of  the  men  of  superior 
brain  with  the  most  beautiful  women.  Women  do 
not  appreciate  the  mental  power  of  man  in  its  di- 


I  SALUTE  THE  STATUE  OF  GOD    215 

rect  expression,  or  even  its  social  use ;  they  can  only 
comprehend  that  power  when  it  is  translated  into 
wealth.  After  the  destruction  of  private  property 
women  refused  to  accept  as  mates  the  men  of  intel- 
lectual power,  but  preferred  instead  men  of  physical 
strength  and  personal  beauty. 

"  At  first  this  was  considered  to  be  a  proof  of 
the  superiority  of  the  proletariat.  For,  with  all 
men  economically  equal,  the  beautiful  women  turned 
from  the  anemic  intellectual  and  the  sons  of  aris- 
tocracy, to  the  strong  arms  of  labour.  Believing 
themselves  to  be  the  source  of  all  wealth,  and  by 
that  right  vested  with  sole  political  power,  and  now 
finding  themselves  preferred  by  the  beautiful  women, 
the  labourer  would  soon  have  eliminated  all  other 
classes  from  human  society.  Had  unbridled  social- 
ism with  its  free  mating  continued,  we  should  have 
become  merely  a  horde  of  handsome  savages. 

"  Such  would  have  been  the  destiny  of  our  race 
had  not  William  III  foreseen  the  outcome  and  re- 
stored war,  the  blessings  of  which  had  been  all  but 
lost  to  the  world.  The  progress  of  peace  depended 
upon  the  competition  of  capitalism,  but  in  peace 
progress  is  incidental.  In  war  it  is  essential.  Be- 
cause war  requires  invention,  it  saved  the  intellectual 
classes,  and  because  war  requires  authority  it  made 
possible  the  restoration  of  our  Royal  House.  La- 
bour, the  tyrant  of  peace,  became  again  the  slave  of 
war,  and  under  the  plea  of  patriotic  necessity  eu- 
genics was   established,   which   again   restored   the 


216         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

beautiful  women  to  the  superior  men.  And  thus 
by  Imperial  Socialism  the  race  was  preserved  from 
deterioriation." 

"  But  surely,"  I  said,  "  eugenics  has  more  than 
remedied  this  defect  of  socialism,  for  the  selection 
of  men  of  superior  mentality  is  much  more  rigid 
than  it  could  have  been  under  the  capricious  matings 
of  capitalistic  society.  Why  then  this  need  of 
wealth?" 

"  Eugenics,"  replied  Boehm,  "  breeds  superior 
children,  but  eugenic  mating  is  a  cold  scientific  thing 
which  fails  to  fan  the  flame  of  man's  ambition  to  do 
creative  work.  That  is  why  we  have  the  Level  of 
Free  Women  and  have  not  bred  the  virility  out  of 
the  intellectual  group.  That  is  also  the  reason  we 
have  retained  the  Free  Level  on  a  competitive  com- 
mercial basis,  and  have  given  the  intellectual  man 
the  bank  credit,  a  symbol  of  wealth,  that  he  may  use 
it,  as  men  have  always  used  wealth,  for  the  purpose 
of  increasing  his  importance  in  the  eyes  of  woman. 
This  function  of  wealth  is  psychically  necessary  to 
the  creative  impulse,  for  the  power  of  sexual  con- 
quest and  the  stimulus  to  creative  thought  are  but 
different  expressions  of  the  same  instinct.  Wealth, 
or  its  symbol,  is  a  medium  of  translating  the  one 
into  the  other.  For  example,  take  your  discovery; 
it  is  important  to  you  and  to  the  state.  Your  fellow 
scientists  appreciate  it,  His  Majesty  appreciates  it, 
but  women  cannot  appreciate  it.  But  give  it  a 
money  value  and  women  appreciate  it  immediately. 
They  know  that  the  unlimited  bank  credit  will  give 


I  SALUTE  THE  STATUE  OF  GOD     217 

you  the  power  to  keep  as  many  women  on  your  list 
as  you  choose,  and  this  means  that  you  can  select 
freely  those  you  wish.  So  the  most  attractive 
women  will  compete  for  your  preferment.  We  bow 
before  the  Emperor,  we  salute  the  Statue  of  God, 
but  we  make  out  our  checks  to  buy  baubles  for 
women,  and  it  is  that  which  keeps  the  wheels  of 
progress  turning." 

"  So,"  I  said,  "  this  is  your  philosophy  of  wealth. 
I  see,  and  yet  I  do  not  see.  The  legal  limit  a  man 
may  contribute  to  a  woman  is  but  twenty-four  hun- 
dred marks  a  year,  what  then  does  he  want  with  a 
million?" 

"  But  there  is  no  legal  limit,"  replied  the  Doctor, 
"  to  the  number  of  women  a  man  may  have  on  his 
list.  His  relation  to  them  may  be  the  most  casual, 
but  the  pursuit  is  stimulating  to  the  creative  imagina- 
tion. But  you  forget,  Herr  von  Armstadt,  that 
with  the  compensation  that  was  to  be  yours  goes  also 
the  social  privilege  of  the  Royal  Level.  Evidently 
you  have  been  so  absorbed  in  your  research  that  you 
had  no  time  to  think  of  the  magnificent  rewards  for 
which  you  were  working." 

"  Then  perhaps  you  will  explain  them  to  me." 

"With  pleasure,"  said  Dr.  Boehm;  "your  social 
privilege  on  the  Royal  Level  includes  the  right  to 
marry  and  that  means  that  you  should  have  chil- 
dren for  whom  inheritance  is  permitted.  How  else 
did  you  suppose  the  ever-increasing  numbers  of  the 
House  of  Hohenzollern  should  have  maintained 
their  wealth?  " 


218         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

"  The  question  has  never  occurred  to  me,"  I  an- 
swered, "  but  if  it  had,  I  should  have  supposed  that 
their  expenses  were  provided  by  appropriations  from 
the  state  treasury." 

Dr.  Boehm  chuckled.  "  Then  they  should  all  be 
dependents  on  the  state  like  cripples  and  imbeciles. 
It  would  be  a  rather  poor  way  to  derive  the  pride 
of  aristocracy.  That  can  only  come  from  inherited 
wealth:  the  principle  is  old,  very  old.  The  noble- 
man must  never  needs  work  to  live.  Then,  if  he 
wishes  to  give  service  to  the  state,  he  may  give  it 
without  pay,  and  thus  feel  his  nobility.  You  can- 
not aspire  to  full  social  equality  with  the  Royal 
House  both  because  you  lack  divinity  of  blood  and 
because  you  receive  your  wealth  for  that  which  you 
have  yourself  given  to  the  state.  But  because  of 
your  wealth  you  will  find  a  wife  of  the  Royal  House, 
and  she  will  bear  you  children  who,  receiving  the 
divine  blood  of  the  Hohenzollerns  from  the  mother 
and  inherited  wealth  from  the  father,  will  thus  be 
twice  ennobled.  To  have  such  children  is  a  rare 
privilege;  not  even  Herr  von  Uhl  with  his  thou- 
sands of  descendants  can  feel  such  a  pride  of  pa- 
ternity. 

"  It  is  well,  Herr  von  Armstadt,  that  you  talked 
to  me  of  these  matters.  Should  you  be  restored  to 
your  full  mental  powers  and  be  permitted  to  assume 
the  rights  of  your  new  station,  it  would  be  most 
unfortunate  if  you  should  seem  unappreciative  of 
these  ennobling  privileges." 

"  Then,  if  I  may,  I  shall  ask  you  some  further 


I  SALUTE  THE  STATUE  OF  GOD    219 

questions.  It  seems  that  the  inherited  incomes  of 
the  Royal  Level  are  from  time  to  time  reinforced 
by  marriage  from  without.  Does  that  not  dilute 
the  Royal  blood?" 

'That  question,"  replied  Dr.  Boehm,  "more 
properly  should  be  addressed  to  a  eugenist,  but  I 
shall  try  to  give  you  the  answer.  The  blood  of  the 
House  of  Hohenzollern  is  of  a  very  high  order  for 
it  is  the  blood  of  divinity  in  human  veins.  Yet  since 
there  is  no  eugenic  control,  no  selection,  the  quality 
of  that  blood  would  deteriorate  from  inbreeding, 
were  there  no  fresh  infusion.  Then  where  better 
could  such  blood  come  than  from  the  men  of  genius  ? 
No  man  is  given  the  full  social  privilege  of  the  Royal 
Level  except  he  who  has  made  some  great  contribu- 
tion to  the  state.  This  at  once  marks  him  as  a 
genius  and  gives  his  wealth  a  noble  origin." 

"  But  how  is  it,"  I  asked,  "  that  this  addition  of 
men  from  without  does  not  disturb  the  balance  of 
the  sexes?  " 

"  It  does  disturb  it  somewhat,"  replied  the  doctor, 
"  but  not  seriously,  for  genius  is  rare.  There  are 
only  a  few  hundred  men  in  each  generation  who  are 
received  into  Royal  Society.  Of  course  that  means 
some  of  the  young  men  of  the  Royal  Level  cannot 
marry.  But  some  men  decline  marriage  of  their 
own  free  will;  if  they  are  not  possessed  of  much 
wealth  they  prefer  to  go  unmarried  rather  than  to 
accept  an  unattractive  woman  as  a  wife  when  they 
may  have  their  choice  of  mistresses  from  the  most 
beautiful    virgins    intended    for    the    Free    Level. 


220         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

There  is  always  an  abundance  of  marriageable 
women  on  the  Royal  Level  and  with  your  wealth  you 
will  have  your  choice.  Your  credit,  in  fact,  will 
be  the  largest  that  has  been  granted  for  over  a 
decade." 

"  All  that  is  very  splendid,"  I  answered.  "  I  was 
not  well  informed  on  these  matters.  But  why 
should  His  Majesty  have  been  so  incensed  at  my 
simple  request  for  the  restoration  of  the  rights  of 
the  daughter  of  the  Princess  Fedora?  " 

"  Your  request  was  unusual;  pardon  if  I  may  say, 
impudent;  it  seems  to  imply  a  lack  of  appreciation 
on  your  part  of  the  honours  freely  conferred  upon 
you  —  but  I  daresay  His  Majesty  did  not  realize 
your  ignorance  of  these  things.  You  are  very  young 
and  you  have  risen  to  your  high  station  very  quickly 
from  an  obscure  position." 

"  And  do  you  think,"  I  asked,  "  that  if  you  made 
these  facts  clear  to  him,  he  would  relent  and  grant 
my  request?  " 

Dr.  Boehm  looked  at  me  with  a  penetrating  gaze. 
"  It  is  not  my  function,"  he  said,  "  to  intercede  for 
you.  I  have  only  been  commissioned  to  examine 
carefully  the  state  of  your  mentality." 

I  smiled  complacently  at  the  psychic  expert. 
"  Now,  doctor,"  I  said,  "  you  do  not  mean  to  tell 
me  that  you  really  think  there  is  anything  wrong 
with  my  mentality?  " 

A  look  of  craftiness  flashed  from  Boehm's  eyes. 
"  I  have  given  you  my  diagnosis,"  he  said,  "  but  it 
may  not  be  final.     I  have  already  communicated  my 


I  SALUTE  THE  STATUE  OF  GOD     221 

first  report  to  His  Majesty  and  he  has  ordered  me 
to  remain  with  you  for  some  days.  If  I  should  alter 
that  opinion  too  quickly  it  would  discredit  me  and 
gain  you  nothing.  You  had  best  be  patient,  and 
submit  gracefully  to  further  examination  and  treat- 
ment." 

"  And  do  you  know,"  I  asked,  "  what  the  chemical 
staff  is  doing  about  my  formulas?" 

"  That  is  none  of  my  affair,"  declared  Boehm, 
emphatically. 

There  was  a  vigour  in  his  declaration  and  a  haste 
with  which  he  began  to  talk  of  other  matters  that 
gave  me  a  hint  that  the  doctor  knew  more  of  the 
doings  of  the  chemical  staff  than  he  cared  to  ad- 
mit, but  I  thought  it  wise  not  to  press  the  point. 

3 

The  second  day  of  Boehm's  stay  with  me,  he  un- 
manned his  apparatus  and  asked  me  to  submit  to  a 
further  examination.  I  had  not  the  least  conception 
of  the  purpose  of  this  apparatus  and  with  some  mis- 
givings I  lay  down  on  a  couch  while  the  psychic 
expert  placed  above  my  eyes  a  glass  plate,  on  which, 
when  he  had  turned  on  the  current,  there  proceeded 
a  slow  rhythmic  series  of  pale  lights  and  shadows. 
At  the  doctor's  command  I  fixed  my  gaze  upon  the 
lights,  while  he,  in  a  monotonous  voice,  urged  me 
to  relax  my  mind  and  dismiss  all  active  thought. 

How  long  I  stood  for  this  infernal  proceeding  I 
do  not  know.  But  I  recall  a  realization  that  I  had 
lost  grip  on  my  thoughts  and  seemed  to  be  floating 


222         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

oft  into  a  misty  nowhere  of  unconsciousness.  I 
struggled  frantically  to  regain  control  of  myself; 
and,  for  what  seemed  an  eternity,  I  fought  with  a 
horrible  nightmare  unable  to  move  a  muscle  or  even 
close  my  eyelids  to  shut  out  that  sickening  sequence 
of  creeping  shadows.  Then  I  saw  the  doctor's 
hand  reaching  slowly  toward  my  face.  It  seemed 
to  sway  in  its  stealthy  movement  like  the  head  of  a 
serpent  charming  a  bird,  but  in  my  helpless  horror 
I  could  not  ward  it  off. 

At  last  the  snaky  fingers  touched  my  eyelids  as 
if  to  close  them,  and  that  touch,  light  though  it 
was,  served  to  snap  the  taut  film  of  my  helpless 
brain  and  I  gave  a  blood-curdling  yell  and  jumped 
up,  knocking  over  the  devilish  apparatus  and  nearly 
upsetting  the  doctor. 

11  Calm  yourself,"  said  Boehm,  as  he  attempted 
to  push  me  again  toward  the  couch.  "  There  is 
nothing  wrong,  and  you  must  surrender  to  the 
psychic  equilibrator  so  that  I  can  proceed  with  the 
examination." 

"  Examination  be  damned,"  I  shouted  fiercely; 
"  you  were  trying  to  hypnotize  me  with  that  infernal 
machine." 

Boehm  did  not  reply  but  calmly  proceeded  to  pick 
up  the  apparatus  and  restore  it  to  its  place  in  the 
corner,  while  I  paced  angrily  about  the  room.  He 
then  seated  himself  and  addressed  me  as  I  stood 
against  the  wall  glaring  at  him.  "  You  are  labour- 
ing under  hallucinations,"  he  said.  "  I  fear  your 
case  is  even  worse  than  I  thought.      But  calm  your- 


I  SALUTE  THE  STATUE  OF  GOD     223 

self.      I   shall  attempt  no   further   examination   to- 
day." 

I  resumed  a  seat  but  refused  to  look  at  him.     He 

'  did  not  talk  further  of  my  supposed  mental  state, 

but  proceeded  to  entertain  me  with  gossip  of  the 

Royal  Level,  and  later  discussed  the  novels  in  the 

bookcase. 

It  was  difficult  to  keep  up  an  open  war  with  so 
charming  a  conversationalist,  but  I  was  thoroughly 
on  my  guard.  I  could  now  readily  see  through  the 
whole  fraud  of  my  imputed  mental  derangement. 
I  knew  my  mind  was  sound  as  a  schoolboy's,  and  that 
this  pretence  of  examination  and  treatment  was  only 
a  blind.  Evidently  the  Chemical  Staff  had  failed 
to  work  the  formulas  I  had  given  them  and  this 
psychic  manipulator  had  been  sent  in  here  to  filch 
the  true  formulas  from  my  brain  with  his  devilish 
art.  I  knew  nothing  of  what  progress  the  Germans 
might  have  made  with  hypnotism,  but  unless  they 
had  gone  further  than  had  the  outer  world,  now 
that  I  was  on  my  guard,  I  believed  myself  to  be 
safe. 

But  there  was  yet  one  danger.  I  might  be 
trapped  in  my  sleep  by  an  induced  somnambulistic 
conversation.  Happily  I  was  fairly  well  posted  on 
such  things  and  believed  that  I  could  guard  against 
that  also.  But  the  fear  of  the  thing  made  me  so 
nervous  that  I  did  not  sleep  all  of  the  following 
night. 

The  doctor,  evidently  a  keen  observer,  must  have 
detected  that  fact  from  the  sound  of  my  breathing, 


224         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

for  the  lights  were  turned  out  and  we  slept  in  the 
pitchy  blackness  that  only  a  windowless  room  can 
create. 

w  You  did  not  sleep  well,"  he  remarked,  as  we 
breakfasted. 

But  I  made  light  of  his  solicitous  concern,  and  we 
passed  another  day  in  casual  conversation. 

As  the  sleeping  period  drew  again  near,  the  doctor 
said,  "  I  will  leave  you  tonight,  for  I  fear  my  pres- 
ence disturbs  you  because  you  misinterpret  my  pur- 
pose in  observing  you." 

As  the  doctor  departed,  I  noted  that  the  mechan- 
ism of  the  hinges  and  the  lock  of  the  door  were  so 
perfect  that  they  gave  forth  no  sound.  I  was  very 
drowsy  and  soon  retired,  but  before  I  went  to  sleep 
I  practised  snapping  off  and  on  the  light  from  the 
switch  at  the  side  of  my  bed.  Then  I  repeated  over 
and  over  to  myself  — "  I  will  awake  at  the  first  sound 
of  a  voice." 

This  thought  ingrained  in  my  subconscious  mind 
proved  my  salvation.  I  must  have  been  sleeping 
some  hours.  I  was  dreaming  of  Marguerite.  I 
saw  her  standing  in  an  open  meadow  flooded  with 
sunlight;  and  heard  her  voice  as  if  from  afar.  I 
walked  towards  her  and  as  the  words  grew  more 
distinct  I  knew  the  voice  was  not  Marguerite's. 
Then  I  awoke. 

I  did  not  stir  but  lay  listening.  The  voice  was 
speaking  monotonously  and  the  words  I  heard  were 
the  words  of  the  protium  formulas,  the  false  ones  I 
had  given  the  Chemical  Staff. 


I  SALUTE  THE  STATUE  OF  GOD    225 

"  But  these  formulas  are  not  correct,"  purred  the 
voice,  "  of  course,  they  are  not  correct.  I  gave 
them  to  the  Staff,  but  they  will  never  know  the  real 
ones  —  Yes,  the  real  ones  —  What  are  the  real 
ones?  Have  I  forgotten — ?  No,  I  shall  never 
forget.  I  can  repeat  them  now."  Then  the  voice 
began  again  on  one  of  the  fake  formulas.  But  when 
it  reached  the  point  where  the  true  formula  was 
different,  it  paused;  evidently  the  Chemical  Staff  had 
found  out  where  the  difficulty  lay.  And  so  the  voice 
had  paused,  hoping  my  sleeping  mind  would  catch 
up  the  thread  and  supply  the  missing  words.  But 
instead  my  arm  shot  quickly  to  the  switch.  The 
solicitous  Doctor  Boehm,  flooded  with  a  blaze  of 
light,  glared  blinkingly  as  I  leaped  from  the  bed. 

"  Oh,  I  was  asleep  all  right,"  I  said,  "  but  I  awoke 
the  instant  I  heard  you  speak,  just  as  I  had  assured 
myself  that  I  would  do  before  I  fell  asleep.  Now 
what  else  have  you  in  your  bag  of  tricks?  " 

"  I  only  came  — "  began  the  doctor. 

"  Yes,  you  only  came,"  I  shouted,  "  and  you  knew 
nothing  about  the  work  of  the  Chemical  Staff  on  my 
formulas.  Now  see  here,  doctor,  you  had  your  try 
and  you  have  failed.  Your  diagnosis  of  my  mental 
condition  is  just  as  much  a  fraud  as  the  formulas  on 
which  the  Chemical  Staff  have  been  wasting  their 
time  —  only  it  is  not  so  clever.  I  fooled  them  and 
you  have  not  fooled  me.  Waste  no  more  time,  but 
go  back  and  report  to  His  Majesty  that  your  little 
tricks  have  failed." 

"  I  shall  do  that,"  said  Boehm.     "  I  feared  you 


226         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

from  the  start;  your  mind  is  really  an  extraordinary 
one.  But  where,"  he  said,  "  did  you  learn  how  to 
guard  yourself  so  well  against  my  methods?  They 
are  very  secret.  My  art  is  not  known  even  to 
physicians." 

11  It  is  known  to  me,"  I  said,  "  so  run  along  and 
get  your  report  ready."  The  doctor  shook  my  hand 
with  an  air  of  profound  respect  and  took  his  leave. 
This  time  I  balanced  a  chair  overhanging  the  edge 
of  a  table  so  that  the  opening  of  the  door  would 
push  it  off,  and  I  lay  down  and  slept  soundly. 

4 

I  was  left  alone  in  my  prison  until  late  the  next 
day.  Then  came  a  guard  who  conducted  me  before 
His  Majesty.  None  of  the  Chemical  Staff  was 
present.  In  fact  there  was  no  one  with  the  Em- 
peror but  a  single  secretary. 

His  Majesty  smiled  cordially.  "  It  was  fitting, 
Herr  von  Armstadt,  for  me  to  order  your  confine- 
ment for  your  demand  was  audacious;  not  that  what 
you  asked  was  a  matter  of  importance,  but  you 
should  have  made  the  request  in  writing  and  pri- 
vately and  not  before  the  Chemical  Staff.  For  that 
breach  of  etiquette  I  had  to  humiliate  you  that  Royal 
dignity  might  be  preserved.  As  for  the  fact  that 
you  kept  the  formulas  secret,  none  need  know  that 
but  the  Chemical  Staff  and  they  will  have  nothing 
further  to  say  since  you  made  fools  of  them."  His 
Majesty  laughed. 


I  SALUTE  THE  STATUE  OF  GOD    227 

"  As  for  the  request  you  made,  I  have  decided  to 
grant  it.  Nor  do  I  blame  you  for  making  it.  The 
Princess  Marguerite  is  a  very  beautiful  girl.  She 
is  waiting  now  nearby.  I  should  have  sent  for  her 
sooner,  but  it  was  necessary  to  make  an  investigation 
regarding  her  birth.  The  unfortunate  Princess  Fe- 
dora never  confessed  the  father.  But  I  have  ar- 
ranged that,  as  you  shall  see." 

The  Emperor  now  pressed  his  signal  button  and 
a  door  opened  and  Marguerite  was  ushered  into  the 
room.  I  started  in  fear  as  I  saw  that  she  was 
accompanied  by  Dr.  Zimmern.  What  calamity  of 
discovery  and  punishment,  I  wondered,  had  my  dar- 
ing move  brought  to  the  secret  rebel  against  the  rule 
of  the  Hohenzollern? 

Marguerite  stepped  swiftly  toward  me  and  gave 
me  her  hand.  The  look  in  her  eyes  I  interpreted 
as  a  warning  that  I  was  not  to  recognize  Zimmern. 
So  I  appeared  the  stranger  while  the  secretary  intro- 
duced us. 

"  Dr.  Zimmern,"  said  His  Majesty,  "  was  physi- 
cian to  Princess  Fedora  at  the  time  of  the  birth  of 
the  Princess  Marguerite.  She  confessed  to  him  the 
father  of  her  child.  It  was  the  Count  Rudolph  who 
died  unmarried  some  years  ago.  There  will  be  no 
questions  raised.  Our  society  will  welcome  his 
daughter,  for  both  the  Count  Rudolph  and  the  Prin- 
cess Fedora  were  very  popular." 

During  this  speech,  Dr.  Zimmern  sat  rigid  and 
stared  into  space.     Then  the  secretary  produced  a 


228         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

document  and  read  a  confession  to  be  signed  by 
Zimmern,  testifying  to  these  statements  of  Mar- 
guerite's birth. 

Zimmern,  his  features  still  unmoved,  signed  the 
paper  and  handed  it  again  to  the  secretary. 

His  Majesty  arose  and  held  out  his  hand  to  Mar- 
guerite. "  I  welcome  you,"  he  said,  "  to  the  House 
of  Hohenzollern.  We  shall  do  our  best  to  atone 
for  what  you  have  suffered.  And  to  you,  Herr  von 
Armstadt,  I  extend  my  thanks  for  bringing  us  so 
beautiful  a  woman.  It  is  my  hope  that  you  will  win 
her  as  a  wife,  for  she  will  grace  well  the  fortune 
that  your  great  genius  brings  to  us.  But  because 
you  have  loved  her  under  unfortunate  circumstances 
I  must  forbid  your  marriage  for  a  period  of  two 
years.  During  that  time  you  will  both  be  free  to 
make  acquaintances  in  Royal  Society.  Nothing  less 
than  this  would  be  fair  to  either  of  you,  or  to  other 
women  that  may  seek  your  fortune  or  to  other  men 
who  may  seek  the  beauty  of  your  princess." 


CHAPTER  X 

A  GODDESS  WHO  IS  SUFFERING  FROM  OBESITY  AND  A 

BRAVE  MAN  WHO  IS  AFRAID  OF  THE  LAW 

OF  AVERAGES 


IT  was  not   till   we   had   reached   Marguerite's 
apartment  that  Zimmern  spoke.     Then  he  and 
Marguerite  both  embraced  me  and  cried  with 
joy. 

"  Ah,  Armstadt,"  said  the  old  doctor,  "  you  have 
done  a  wonderful  thing,  a  wonderful  thing,  but  why 
did  you  not  warn  us?  " 

"Yes,"  I  stammered,  "  I  know.  You  mean  the 
books.  It  worried  me,  but,  you  see,  I  did  not  plan 
this  thing.  I  did  not  know  what  I  should  do  It 
came  to  me  like  a  flash  as  the  Emperor  was  con- 
fernng  the  honours  upon  me.  I  had  hoped  to  use 
my  power  to  make  him  do  my  bidding,  and  yet  we 
had  contrived  no  way  to  use  that  oower  in  further- 
ance of  our  great  plans  to  free  a  race;  but  I  could 
at  least  use  it  to  free  a  woman.  Let  us  hope  that 
it  augurs  progress  to  the  ultimate  goal." 

"  It  was  very  noble,  but  it  was  dangerous,"  re- 
plied Zimmern.  »  It  was  only  through  a  coincidence 
that  we  were  saved.  Herr  von  Uhl  told  me  that 
same  day  what  you  had  demanded.  I  saw  Hellar 
immediately  and  he  declared  a  raid  on  Marguerite's 

229 


230         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

apartment.  But  he  came  himself  with  only  one  as- 
sistant who  is  in  his  confidence,  and  they  boxed  the 
books  and  carted  them  off.  They  will  be  turned  in 
as  contraband  volumes,  but  the  report  will  be  falsi- 
fied; no  one  will  ever  know  from  whence  they  came." 

"Then  the  books  are  lost  to  you,"  I  said;  "of 
that  I  am  sorry,  and  I  worried  greatly  while  I  was 
imprisoned." 

"  Yes,"  said  Zimmern,  "  we  have  lost  the  books, 
but  you  have  saved  Marguerite.  That  will  more 
than  compensate.  For  that  I  can  never  thank  you 
enough." 

"And  you  were  called  into  the  matter,  not,"  I 
said,  "  as  Marguerite's  friend,  but  as  the  physician 
to  her  mother?  " 

"  They  must  have  looked  up  the  record,"  replied 
Zimmern,  "  but  nothing  was  said  to  me.  I  received 
only  a  communication  from  His  Majesty  command- 
ing me  as  the  physician  to  Marguerite's  mother  at 
the  time  of  Marguerite's  birth,  to  make  statement 
as  to  her  fatherhood." 

"  But  why,"  I  asked,  "  did  you  not  make  this  con- 
fession before,  since  it  enabled  Marguerite  to  be  re- 
stored to  her  rights?" 

The  old  doctor  looked  pained  at  the  question. 
"  But  you  forget,"  he  said,  "  that  it  is  the  power  of 
your  secret  and  not  my  confession  that  has  restored 
Marguerite.  The  confession  is  only  a  matter  of 
form,  to  satisfy  the  wagging  tongues  of  Royal  So- 
ciety." 

"  Do  you  mean,"  I  asked,  "  that  she  will  not  be 


A  MAN  AFRAID  OF  AVERAGES     231 

well  received  there  because   she   was   born   out   of 
wedlock?  " 

"  Not  at  all,"  replied  Zimmern;  "  it  was  the  fail- 
ure to  confess  the  father,  not  the  fact  of  her  un- 
wedded  motherhood,  that  brought  the  punishment. 
Inere   are  many  love-children  born  on   the   Royal 
Level  and  they  suffer  only  a  failure  of  inheritance  of 
wealth   from  the   father.     But  if  they  be  girls  of 
charm  and  beauty,  and  if,  as  Marguerite  now  stands 
credited,  they  be  of  rich  Royal  blood,  they  are  very 
popular  and  much  sought  after.      But  without  the 
record  of  the  father  they  cannot  be  admitted  into 
Royal   Socety,    for   the   record   of   the   blood  lines 
would  be  lost,  and  that,  you  see,  is  essential.     So- 
cial precedent,  the  value  in  the  matrimonial  market, 

«>h  W^T  '^  MarSueHte  *■  ^deed  fortunate; 
w,th  His  Majesty's  signature  attesting  my  confes- 
sion, she  has  nothing  more  to  fear.  But  I  daresay 
they  shall  try  their  best  to  win  her  from  you  for 
some  shallow-minded  prince." 

"  But  when,"  I  asked,  "  is  she  to  go?     His  Maj- 
esty seemed  very  gracious,  but  do  you  realize  that 
I  still  possess  my  secret  of  the  protium  formulas?  " 
And  do  you  still  hesitate  to  give  them  up?" 
asked  Marguerite. 

"For  your  freedom,  dear,  I  shall  reveal  them 
gladly. 

"  But/'  cried  Marguerite,  "  you  must  not  give 
them  up  just  for  me,- if  there  is  any  way  you  can 
use  them  for  our  great  plan." 

"  Nothing,"  spoke  up  Zimmern,  "  could  be  gained 


232         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

now  by  further  secrecy  but  trouble  for  us  all;  and 
by  acceding,  both  you  and  Marguerite  win  your 
places  on  the  Royal  Level,  where  you  can  better 
serve  our  cause.  That  is,  if  you  are  still  with  us. 
It  may  be  harder  for  you,  now  that  you  have  won 
the  richest  privileges  that  Germany  has  to  offer, 
to  remember  those  who  struggle  in  the  darkness." 

"  But  I  shall  remember,"  I  said,  giving  him  my 
hand. 

"  I  believe  you  will,"  said  Zimmern  feelingly, 
"  and  I  know  I  can  count  on  Marguerite.  You  will 
both  have  opportunities  to  see  much  of  the  officers 
of  the  Submarine  Service.  The  German  race  may 
yet  be  freed  from  this  sunless  prison,  if  you  can  find 
one  among  them  who  can  be  won  to  our  cause." 


I  reported  the  next  morning  to  the  Chemical  Staff, 
by  whom  I  was  treated  with  deferential  respect.  I 
was  immediately  installed  in  my  new  office,  as  Di- 
rector of  the  Protium  Works.  While  I  set  about 
supervising  the  manufacture  of  apparatus  for  the 
new  process,  other  members  of  the  staff,  now  fur- 
nished with  the  correct  formulas  repeated  the  dem- 
onstration without  my  assistance. 

When  the  report  of  this  had  been  made  to  His 
Majesty,  I  received  my  insignia  of  the  social  priv- 
ilege of  the  Royal  Level  and  a  copy  of  the  Royal 
Society  Bulletin  announcing  Marguerite's  restora- 
tion to  her  place  in  the  House  of  Hohenzollern,  with 
the  title  of  Princess  Marguerite,  Daughter  of  Prin- 


A  MAN  AFRAID  OF  AVERAGES     233 

cess  Fedora  and  Count  Rudolf.  The  next  day  a 
social  secretary  from  the  Royal  Level  came  for  Mar- 
guerite and  conducted  her  to  the  Apartments  of  the 
Countess  Luise,  under  whose  chaperonage  she  was 
to  make  her  debut  into  Royal  Society. 

I,  also,  was  furnished  with  a  social  secretary,  an 
obsequious  but  very  wise  little  man,  who  took  charge 
of  all  my  affairs  outside  my  chemical  work.  Under 
his  guidance  I  was  removed  to  more  commodious 
quarters  and  my  wardrobe  was  supplied  with  numer- 
ous changes  all  in  the  uniform  of  the  Chemical  Staff. 
There  was  little  time  to  spare  from  my  duties  in  the 
Protium  Works,  but  my  secretary,  ever  alert, 
snatched  upon  the  odd  moments  to  coach  me  in  mat- 
ters of  social  etiquette  and  so  prepared  me  to  make 
my  first  appearance  in  Royal  Society  at  the  grand 
ball  given  by  the  Countess  Luise  in  honour  of  Mar- 
guerite's debut. 

Despite  the  assiduous  coaching  of  my  secretary, 
my  ignorance  must  have  been  delightfully  amusing 
to  the  royal  idlers  who  had  little  other  thought  or 
purpose  in  life  than  this  very  round  of  complicated 
nothingness.  But  if  I  was  a  blundering  amateur  in 
all  this,  they  were  not  so  much  discourteous  as  en- 
vious. They  knew  that  I  had  won  my  position  by 
my  achievements  as  a  chemist  and  in  a  vague  way 
they  understood  that  I  had  saved  the  empire  from 
impending  ruin,  and  for  this  achievement  I  was  lion- 
ized. 

The  women  rustled  about  me  in  their  gorgeous 
gowns  and  plied  me  with  foolish  questions  which  I 


234         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

had  better  sense  than  to  try  to  answer  with  the  slight- 
est degree  of  truth.  But  their  power  of  sustained 
interest  in  such  weighty  matters  was  not  great  and 
soon  the  conversation  would  drift  away,  especially 
if  Marguerite  was  about,  when  the  talk  would  turn 
to  the  romance  of  her  restoration. 

One  group  of  vivacious  ladies  discussed  quite 
frankly  with  Marguerite  the  relative  advantages  of 
a  husband  of  intellectual  genius  as  compared  with 
one  of  a  high  degree  of  royal  blood.  Some  con- 
tended that  the  added  prospect  of  superior  intelli- 
gence in  the  children  would  offset  the  lowering  of 
their  degree  of  Hohenzollern  blood.  The  others 
argued  quite  as  persistently  that  the  "  blood  "  was 
the  better  investment. 

Through  such  conversation  I  learned  of  the  two 
clans  within  the  Royal  House.  The  one  prided 
themselves  wholly  in  the  high  degree  of  their  Hohen- 
zollern blood;  the  other,  styling  themselves  il  Royal 
Intellectuals  "  because  of  a  greater  proportion  of 
outside  blood  lines,  were  quite  as  proud  of  the  fact 
that,  while  possessed  of  sufficient  royal  blood  to  be 
in  "  the  divinity,"  they  inherited  supposedly  greater 
intelligence  from  their  mundane  ancestors.  This 
latter  group,  to  make  good  their  claims,  made  a 
great  show  of  intellectuality,  and  cultivated  most  per- 
sistently a  dilletante  dabbling  into  all  sorts  of  scien- 
tific and  artistic  matters. 

Because  of  Marguerite's  high  credit  in  Royal 
blood  she  was  courted  by  "  purists  "  by  whom  I 
was  only  tolerated  on  her  account.     On  the  other 


A  MAN  AFRAID  OF  AVERAGES     235 

hand,  the  "  intellectuals  "  considered  me  as  a  great 
asset  for  their  cause  and  glorified  particularly  in 
the  prospects  of  marriage  of  an  outside  scientist  to 
an  eighty-degree  Hohenzollern  princess.  This  ri- 
valry of  the  clans  of  Royal  Society  made  us  much 
sought  after  and  I  was  flooded  with  invitations. 

It  did  not  take  me  long  to  discover,  however,  that 
the  reason  for  my  popularity  was  not  altogether  a 
matter  of  respect  for  my  intellectual  genius.  I  had 
at  first  been  inclined  to  accept  all  invitations,  inno- 
cently supposing  that  I  was  being  feted  as  an  hon- 
orary guest.  But  my  social  secretary  advised 
against  this;  and,  when  he  began  bringing  me  checks 
to  sign,  I  realized  that  the  social  privileges  of  Royal 
Society  included  the  honour  of  paying  the  bills  for 
one's  own  entertainment. 

I  had  already  arranged  with  my  banker  that  a 
fourth  of  my  income  be  turned  over  to  Marguerite 
until  her  marriage,  for  she  was  without  income  of 
her  own,  and  it  was  upon  my  petition  that  she  had 
been  restored  to  the  Royal  Level.  At  my  banker's 
suggestion  I  had  also  made  over  ten  thousand  marks 
a  month  to  the  Countess,  under  whose  motherly 
wing  Marguerite  was  being  sheltered.  I  therefore 
soon  discovered  that  my  income  of  a  million  marks 
a  year  would  be  absorbed  quite  easily  by  Royal  So- 
ciety. The  entire  system  appeared  to  me  rather 
sordid,  but  such  matters  were  arranged  by  bankers 
and  secretaries  and  the  principals  were  supposed  to 
be  quite  innocent  of  any  knowledge  of,  or  concern 
for,  the  details. 


236         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

The  Countess  Luise,  who  was  permitted  to  enter- 
tain so  lavishly  at  my  expense,  was  playing  for  the 
favour  of  both  of  the  opposing  social  clans.  Pos- 
sessing a  high  degree  of  Hohenzollern  blood  she 
stood  well  with  the  purists.  But  her  income  was 
not  all  that  could  be  desired,  so  she  had  adroitly  dis- 
covered in  her  only  son  a  touch  of  intellectual  genius, 
and  the  young  man  quite  dutifully  had  become  a 
maker  of  picture  plots,  hoping  by  this  distinction  to 
win  as  a  wife  one  of  the  daughters  of  some  wealthy 
intellectual  interloper.  At  first  I  had  feared  the 
Countess  had  designs  upon  Marguerite  as  a  wife 
for  her  son,  but  as  Marguerite  had  no  income  of  her 
own  I  saw  that  in  this  I  was  mistaken,  and  I  de- 
veloped a  feeling  of  genuine  friendliness  for  the 
plump  and  cordial  Countess. 

"  Do  you  know  what  I  was  reading  last  night?  " 
I  remarked  one  evening,  as  I  chatted  with  Mar- 
guerite and  her  chaperone. 

"  Some  work  on  obesity,  I  hope,"  sparkled  the 
Countess.  Like  many  of  the  House  of  Hohenzol- 
lern, among  whom  there  was  no  weight  control,  she 
carried  a  surplus  of  adipose  tissue  not  altogether 
consistent  with  beauty. 

"  No,  indeed,"  I  said  gravely.  "  Nothing  about 
your  material  being,  but  a  treatise  upon  your  spir- 
itual nature.  I  was  reading  an  old  school  book  that 
I  found  among  my  forgotten  relics  —  a  book  about 
the  Divinity  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern." 

"Oh,  how  jolly!"  chuckled  the  Countess. 
"  How  very  funny  that  I  never  thought  before  that 


A  MAN  AFRAID  OF  AVERAGES    237 

you,  Herr  von  Armstadt,  were  once  taught  all  those 
delightful  fables." 

"  And  once  believed  them  too,"  I  lied. 

"  Oh,  dear  me,"  replied  the  Countess,  with  a  pon- 
derous sigh,  "  so  I  suppose  you  did.  And  what  a 
shock  I  must  have  been  to  you  with  an  eighty  centi- 
metre waist." 

'  You  are  not  quite  Junoesque,"  I  admitted. 

'  The  more  reason  you  should  use  your  science, 
Herr  Chemist,  to  aid  me  to  recover  my  goddess 
form." 

"What  are  you  folks  talking  about?"  inter- 
rupted Marguerite. 

"  About  our  divinity,  my  dear,"  replied  Luise 
archly. 

"  But  do  you  feel  that  it  is  really  necessary,"  I 
asked,  "  that  such  fables  should  be  put  into  the  help- 
less minds  of  children?  " 

"  It  surely  must  be.  Suppose  your  own  heredity 
had  proven  tricky  —  it  does  sometimes,  you  know  — 
and  you  had  been  found  incapable  of  scientific 
thought.  You  would  have  been  deranked  and  per- 
haps made  a  record  clerk  —  no  personal  reflections, 
but  such  things  do  happen  —  and  if  you  now  were 
filing  cards  all  day  you  would  surely  be  much  happier 
if  you  could  believe  in  our  divinity.  Why  else  would 
you  submit  to  a  loveless  life  and  the  dull  routine  of 
toil?  Did  not  all  the  ancients,  and  do  not  all  the 
inferior  races  now,  have  objects  of  religious  wor- 
ship?" 

"  But  the  other  races,"  I  said,  "  do  not  worship 


23-8         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

living  people  but  spiritual  divinities  and  the  sainted 
dead." 

"  Quite  so,"  replied  the  over-plump  goddess,  "  but 
that  is  why  their  knlturs  are  so  inefficient.  Surely 
the  worship  was  useless  to  the  spirits  and  the  dead, 
whereas  we  find  it  quite  profitable  to  be  worshipped. 
But  for  this  wonderful  doctrine  of  the  divinity  of  the 
blood  of  William  the  Great  we  should  be  put  to  all 
sorts  of  inconveniences." 

'  You  might  even  have  to  work,"  I  ventured. 

The  Countess  bestowed  on  me  one  of  her  most  be- 
witching smiles.  "  My  dear  Herr  Chemist,"  she 
said  in  sugary  tones,  "  you  with  your  intellectual 
genius  can  twit  us  on  our  psychic  lacks  and  we  must 
fall  back  on  the  divine  blood  of  our  Great  Ancestor 
—  but  would  you  really  wish  the  slaves  of  dull  toil 
to  think  it  as  human  as  their  own?  " 

"  But  to  me  it  seems  a  little  gross,"  I  said. 

"  Not  at  all;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  a  master  stroke 
of  science  and  efficiency  —  inferior  creatures  must 
worship ;  they  always  have  and  always  will  —  then 
why  waste  the  worship?  " 

3 

My  position  as  director  of  the  protium  works  soon 
brought  me  into  conference  with  Admiral  von  Kuf- 
ner  who  was  Chief  of  the  Submarine  Staff.  Von 
Kufner  was  in  his  forties  and  his  manner  indicated 
greater  talent  for  pomp  and  ceremony  than  for  ad- 
ministrative work.     His  grandfather  had  been  the 


A  MAN  AFRAID  OF  AVERAGES     239 

engineer  to  whose  genius  Berlin  owed  her  salvation 
through  the  construction  of  the  submarine  tunnel. 
By  this  service  the  engineer  had  won  the  coveted 
"  von,"  a  princely  fortune  and  a  wife  of  the  Royal 
Level.  The  Admiral  therefore  carried  Hohenzol- 
lern  blood  in  his  veins,  which,  together  with  his  am- 
ple fortune  and  a  distinguished  position,  made  him  a 
man  of  both  social  and  official  consequence. 

It  did  not  take  me  long  to  decide  that  von  Kufner 
was  hopeless  as  a  prospective  convert  to  revolution- 
ary doctrines.  Nor  did  he  possess  any  great  knowl- 
edge of  the  protium  mines,  for  he  had  never  visited 
them.  Inheriting  his  position  as  an  honour  to  his 
grandfather's  genius,  he  commanded  the  undersea 
vessels  from  the  security  of  an  office  on  the  Royal 
Level,  for  journeys  in  ice-filled  waters  were  entirely 
too  dangerous  to  appeal  to  one  who  loved  so  well 
the  pleasures  and  vanities  of  life. 

I  had  explained  to  von  Kufner  the  distinctions  I 
had  discovered  in  the  various  samples  of  the  ore 
brought  from  the  mines  and  the  necessity  of  having 
new  surveys  of  the  deposits  made  on  the  basis  of 
these  discoveries.  After  he  had  had  time  to  digest 
this  information,  I  suggested  that  I  should  myself 
go  to  make  this  survey.  But  this  idea  the  Admiral 
at  once  opposed,  insisting  that  the  trip  through  the 
Arctic  ice  fields  was  entirely  too  dangerous. 

;'  Very  well,"  I  replied.  "  I  feel  that  I  could  best 
serve  Germany  by  going  to  the  Arctic  mines  in  per- 
son, but  if  you  think  that  is  unwise,  will  you  not 


24o         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

arrange  for  me  to  consult  at  once  with  men  who 
have  been  in  the  mines  and  are  familiar  with  con- 
ditions there?  " 

To  this  very  reasonable  request,  which  was  in  line 
with  my  obvious  duties,  no  objection  could  be  made 
and  a  conference  was  at  once  called  of  submarine 
captains  and  furloughed  engineers  who  had  been  in 
the  Arctic  ore  fields. 

I  was  impressed  by  the  youthfulness  of  these  men, 
which  was  readily  explained  by  the  fact  that  one  ves- 
sel out  of  every  five  sent  out  was  lost  beneath  the 
Arctic  ice  floes.  With  an  almost  mathematical  cer- 
tainty the  men  in  the  undersea  service  could  reckon 
the  years  of  their  lives  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand. 

Although  the  official  business  of  the  conference 
related  to  ore  deposits  and  not  to  the  dangers  of  the 
traffic,  the  men  were  so  obsessed  with  the  latter  fact, 
that  it  crept  out  in  their  talk  in  spite  of  the  Admiral's 
obvious  displeasure  at  such  confession  of  fear.  I 
particularly  marked  the  outspoken  frankness  of  one, 
Captain  Grauble,  whose  vessel  was  the  next  one 
scheduled  to  depart  to  the  mines. 

I  therefore  asked  Grauble  to  call  in  person  at  my 
office  for  the  instructions  concerning  the  ore  inves- 
tigations which  were  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Di- 
rector of  the  Mines.  Free  from  the  restraining  in- 
fluence of  the  Admiral,  I  was  able  to  lead  the  Cap- 
tain to  talk  freely  of  the  dangers  of  his  work,  and 
was  overjoyed  to  find  him  frankly  rebellious. 

That  I  might  still  further  cultivate  his  acquaint- 
ance I  withheld  some  of  the  necessary  documents; 


A  MAN  AFRAID  OF  AVERAGES    241 

and,  using  this  as  a  pretext,  I  later  sought  him  out 
at  his  quarters,  which  were  in  a  remote  and  some- 
what obscure  part  of  the  Royal  Level. 

The  official  nature  of  my  call  disposed  of,  I  led 
the  conversation  into  social  matters,  and  found  no 
difficulty  in  persuading  the  Captain  to  talk  of  his 
own  life.  He  was  a  man  well  under  thirty  and  like 
most  of  his  fellows  in  the  service  was  one  of  the  sons 
of  a  branch  of  the  Hohenzollern  family  whose  de- 
clining fortune  denied  him  all  hope  of  marriage  or 
social  life.  In  the  heroic  years  of  his  youth  he  had 
volunteered  for  the  submarine  service.  But  now  he 
confessed  that  he  regretted  the  act,  for  he  realized 
that  his  death  could  not  be  long  postponed.  He 
had  made  his  three  trips  as  commander  of  an  ore- 
bringing  vessel. 

"  I  have  two  more  trips,"  declared  Captain  Grau- 
ble.  "  Such  is  the  prophecy  of  statistical  facts:  live 
trips  is  the  allotted  life  of  a  Captain;  it  is  the  law 
of  averages.  It  is  possible  that  I  may  extend  that 
number  a  little,  but  if  so  it  will  be  an  exception. 
Trusting  to  exceptions  is  a  poor  philosophy.  I  do 
not  like  it.  Sometimes  I  think  I  shall  refuse  to  go. 
Disgrace,  of  course, —  banishment  to  the  mines. 
Report  my  treasonable  utterances  if  you  like.  I  am 
prepared  for  that;  suicide  is  easy  and  certain." 

"But  is  it  not  rather  cowardly,  Captain?"  I 
asked,  looking  him  steadily  in  the  eye. 

Grauble  flung  out  his  hand  with  a  gesture  of  dis- 
dain. "  That  is  an  easy  word  for  you  to  pro- 
nounce," he  sneered.     "  You  have  hope  to  live  by, 


2+2         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

you  are  on  the  upward  climb,  you  aspire  to  marry 
into  the  Royal  House  and  sire  children  to  inherit 
your  wealth.  But  I  was  born  of  the  Royal  House, 
my  father  squandered  his  wealth.  My  sisters  were 
beautiful  and  they  have  married  well.  My  brother 
was  servile;  he  has  attached  himself  to  the  retinue 
of  a  wealthy  Baroness.  But  I  was  made  of  better 
stuff  than  that.  I  would  play  the  hero.  I  would 
face  danger  and  gladly  die  to  give  Berlin  more  life 
and  uphold  the  House  of  Hohenzollern  in  its  fat 
and  idle  existence;  and  for  me  they  have  taken  hope 
away! 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  was  proclaimed  a  hero.  The  young 
ladies  of  this  house  of  idleness  dance  with  me,  but 
they  dare  not  take  me  seriously;  what  one  of  them 
would  court  the  certainty  of  widowhood  without  a 
fortune?  So  why  should  I  not  tire  of  their  shallow 
trifling?  I  find  among  the  girls  of  the  Free  Level 
more  honest  love,  for  they,  as  I,  have  no  hope. 
They  love  but  for  the  passing  hour,  and  pass  on  as  I 
pass  on,  I  to  death,  they  to  decaying  beauty  and  an 
old  age  of  servile  slavery." 

Surely,  I  exulted,  here  is  the  rebellious  and  daring 
soul  that  Zimmern  and  Hellar  have  sought  in  vain. 
Even  as  they  had  hoped,  I  seemed  to  have  discovered 
a  man  of  the  submarine  service  who  was  amenable 
to  revolutionary  ideas.  Could  I  not  get  him  to  con- 
sider the  myriad  life  of  Berlin  in  all  its  barren  futil- 
ity, to  grasp  at  the  hope  of  succour  from  a  free  and 
merciful  world,  and  then,  with  his  aid,  find  a  way 
out  of  Berlin,  a  way  to  carry  the  message  o,  Ger- 


A  MAN  AFRAID  OF  AVERAGES     243 

many's  need  of  help  to  the  Great  God  of  Humanity 
that  dwelt  without  in  the  warmth  and  joy  of  the  sun? 
The  tide  of  hope  surged  high  within  me.  I  was 
tempted  to  divulge  at  once  my  long  cherished  plan 
of  escape  from  Berlin.  "  Why,"  I  asked,  thinking 
to  further  sound  his  sincerity,  "  if  you  feel  like  this, 
have  you  never  considered  running  your  craft  to  the 
surface  during  the  sea  passage  and  beaching  her  on 
a  foreign  shore?  There  at  least  is  life  and  hope  and 
experience." 

"  By  the  Statue  of  God !  "  cried  Grauble,  his  body 
shaking  and  his  voice  quavering,  "  why  do  you,  in 
all  your  hope  and  comfort  here,  speak  of  that  to  me? 
Do  you  think  I  have  never  been  tempted  to  do  that 
very  thing?  And  yet  you  call  me  a  coward.  Have 
I  not  breathed  foul  air  for  days,  fearful  to  poke  up 
our  air  tube  in  deserted  waters  lest  by  the  millionth 
chance  it  might  lead  to  a  capture?  And  yet  you 
speak  of  deliberate  surrender!  Even  though  I  de- 
stroyed my  charts,  the  capture  of  a  German  sub- 
marine in  those  seas  would  set  the  forces  of  the 
outer  world  searching  for  the  passage.  If  they 
found  and  blocked  the  passage  I  should  be  guilty  of 
the  destruction  of  three  hundred  million  lives  — 
Great  God!  God  of  Hohenzollern!  God  of  the 
World!  could  this  thing  be?  " 

"  Captain,"  I  said,  placing  my  hand  on  the  shoul- 
der of  the  palsied  man,  "  you  and  I  have  great  se- 
crets and  the  burden  of  great  sorrows  in  common. 
It  is  well  that  we  have  found  each  other.  It  is  well 
that  we  have  spoken  of  these  things  that  shake  our 


244         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

souls.  You  have  confessed  much  to  me  and  I  have 
much  that  I  shall  confess  to  you.  I  must  see  you 
again  before  you  leave." 

Grauble  gave  me  his  hand.  "  You  are  a  strange 
man,"  he  said.  "  I  have  met  none  before  like  you. 
I  do  not  know  at  what  aims  you  are  driving.  If 
you  plotted  my  disgrace  by  leading  me  into  these 
confessions,  you  have  found  me  easy  prey.  But 
do  not  credit  yourself  too  much.  I  have  often 
vowed  I  would  go  to  Admiral  von  Kufner,  and  say 
these  things  to  him.  But  the  formal  exterior  of 
that  petty  pompous  man  I  cannot  penetrate.  If  I 
have  confessed  to  you,  it  is  merely  because  you  are 
a  man  without  that  protecting  shield  of  bristling 
authority  and  cold  formality.  You  seemed  merely 
a  man  of  flesh  and  blood,  despite  your  decorations, 
and  so  I  have  talked.  What  is  to  be  made  of  it 
by  you  or  by  me  I  do  not  know,  but  I  am  not  afraid 
of  you." 

"  I  shall  leave  you  now,"  I  said,  "  for  I  have 
pressing  duties,  but  I  shall  see  you  soon  again.  So 
calm  yourself  and  get  hold  of  your  reason.  I  shall 
want  you  to  think  clearly  when  I  talk  with  you  again. 
Perhaps  I  can  yet  show  you  a  gleam  of  hope  beyond 
this  mathematical  law  of  averages  that  rattles  the 
dice  of  death." 


CHAPTER  XI 

IN  WHICH   THE  TALKING   DELEGATE    IS   ANSWERED 

BY  THE  ROYAL  VOICE  AND  I  LEARN  THAT 

LABOUR  KNOWS  NOT  GOD 


I  HAD  delayed  in  speaking  to  Grauble  of  our 
revolutionary  plans,  because  I  wished  first  to 
arrange  a  meeting  with  Zimmern  and  Hellar 
and  secure  the  weight  of  their  calmer  minds  in  in- 
itiating Grauble  into  our  plans  of  sending  a  message 
to  the  World  State  authorities.  I  was  prevented 
from  doing  this  immediately  by  difficulties  in  the 
Protium  Works.  Meanwhile  unbeknown  to  me  the 
sailing  date  of  Grauble's  vessel  was  advanced,  and 
he  departed  to  the  Arctic. 

Although  my  position  as  Director  of  the  Protium 
Works  had  been  more  of  an  honour  than  an  assign- 
ment of  active  duties,  I  made  it  my  business  to  as- 
sume the  maximum  rather  than  the  minimum  of  the 
functions  of  the  office  as  I  wished  to  learn  more  of 
the  labour  situation  in  Berlin,  of  which  as  yet  I  had 
no  comprehensive  understanding. 

In  a  general  way  I  understood  that  German  la- 
bour differed  not  only  in  being  eugenically  created 
as  a  distinct  breed,  but  that  the  labour  group  was 
also  a  very  distinct  caste  economically  and  politically. 
The  labourer,  being  denied  access  to  the  Level  of 

245 


246         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

Free  Women,  had  no  need  for  money  or  bank 
credit  in  any  form.  This  seemed  to  me  to  reduce 
him  to  a  condition  of  pure  slavery  —  since  he  re- 
ceived no  pay  for  his  services  other  than  the  bare 
maintenance  supplied  by  the  state. 

Because  of  this  evidence  of  economic  inferiority, 
I  had  at  first  supposed  that  labour  was  in  every 
way  an  inferior  caste.  But  in  this  I  had  been 
gravely  mistaken,  nor  had  I  been  able  fully  to  com- 
prehend my  error  until  this  brewing  labour  trouble 
revealed  in  concrete  form  the  political  superiority 
of  labour.  In  my  failure  to  comprehend  the  true 
state  of  affairs  I  had  been  a  little  stupid,  for  the  po- 
litical basis  of  German  society  is  revealed  to  the  see- 
ing eye  in  the  Hohenzollern  eagle  emblazoned  on 
the  red  flag,  the  emblem  of  the  rule  of  labour. 

Historically  I  believe  this  belies  the  origin  of  the 
red  flag  for  it  was  first  used  as  the  emblem  of  demo- 
cratic socialism,  a  Nineteenth  Century  theory  of  a 
social  order  in  which  all  social  and  economic  classes 
were  to  be  blended  into  a  true  democracy  differing 
somewhat  in  its  economic  organization,  but  essen- 
tially the  same  politically  as  the  true  democracy 
which  we  have  achieved  in  the  World  State.  But 
with  the  Bolshevist  regime  in  Russia  after  the  First 
World  War,  the  red  flag  was  appropriated  as  the 
emblem  of  the  political  supremacy  and  rule  of  the 
proletariat  or  labour  class. 

I  make  these  references  to  bygone  history  because 
they  throw  light  on  the  peculiar  status  of  the  Ger- 
man Labour  Caste,  which  is  possessed  of  political 


THE  TALKING  DELEGATE        247 

superiority  combined  with  social  and  economic  in- 
feriority.    It  was  the  Bolshevist  brand  of  socialism 
that  finally  overran  Germany  in  the  era  of  loose  and 
ineffective  rule  of  the  world  by  the  League  of  Na- 
tions.    Though   I   make   no  pretence   of  being   an 
accurate  authority  on  history,   the  League  of  Na- 
tions,  if  I   remember  rightly,   was  humanity's  first 
timid    conception    of    the    World    State.      Rather 
weakly  born,  it  was  promptly  emasculated  by  the  rise 
in  America  of  a  political  party  founded  on  the  ideas 
of  a  great  national  hero  who  had  just  died.     The 
obstructionist  policy  of  this  party  was  inherent  in 
its  origin,  for  it  was  inspired  and  held  together  by 
the  ideas  of  a  dead  man,  whose  followers  could  only 
repeat  as  their  test  of  faith  a  phrase  that  has  come 
down  to  us  as  an  idiom—"  What  would  He  do?  " 
"  He  "  being  dead  could  do  nothing,  neither  could 
he  change  his  mind,  but  having  left  an  indelible  rec- 
ord of  his  ideas  by  the  strenuous  verbiage  of  his  virile 
and  inspiring  rhetoric,  there  was  no  room  for  doubt. 
As  in  all  political  and  religious  faiths  founded  on  the 
ideas  of  dead  heroes,  this  made  for  solidarity  and 
power  and  quite  prevented  any  adaptation  of  the 
form  of  government  to  the  needs  of  the  world  that 
had  arisen  since  his  demise. 

I  have  digressed  here  from  my  theme  of  the  po- 
litical status  of  the  German  labour  caste,  but  it  is 
fascinating  to  trace  things  to  their  origin  to  find 
the  links  of  the  chain  of  cause  and  effect.  So,  if  I 
have  read  my  history  aright,  the  emasculation  of  the 
League  of  Nations  by  the  American  obstructionists 


248         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

caused,  or  at  least  permitted  the  rise,  and  dominance 
of  the  Bolshevists  in  Twentieth-Century  Germany. 
Had  the  Germans  been  democrats  at  heart  the  pen- 
dulum would  have  swung  back  as  it  did  with  other 
peoples,  and  been  stayed  at  the  point  of  equilibrium 
which  we  recognized  as  the  stable  mean  of  democ- 
racy. 

But  in  the  old  days  before  the  modern  intermin- 
gling of  the  races  it  seems  that  there  were  certain 
tastes  that  had  become  instinctive  in  racial  groups. 
Thus,  just  as  the  German  stomach  craved  the  rich 
flavour  of  sausage,  so  the  German  mind  craved  the 
dazzling  show  of  Royal  flummery.  Had  it  not  been 
for  this  the  First  World  War  could  have  never  been, 
for  the  socialists  of  that  time  were  bitterly  opposed 
to  war  and  Germany  was  the  world's  greatest 
stronghold  of  socialism,  yet  when  their  beloved  im- 
perial poser,  William  the  Great,  called  for  war  the 
German  socialists,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  whom 
they  afterwards  murdered,  went  forth  to  war  al- 
most without  protest. 

When  I  first  began  to  hear  of  the  political  rights 
of  Labour,  I  went  to  my  friend  Hellar  and  asked 
for  an  explanation. 

"  Is  not  the  chain  of  authority  absolute,"  I  asked, 
"  up  through  the  industrial  organization  direct  to 
the  Emperor  and  so  to  God  himself?" 

"  But,"  said  Hellar,  "  the  workers  do  not  believe 
in  God!" 

'  What,"  I  stammered,  "  workers  not  believe  in 


THE  TALKING  DELEGATE        249 

God !  It  is  impossible.  Have  not  the  workers  sim- 
ple trusting  minds?  " 

"  Certainly,"  said  Hellar,  "  it  is  the  natural  mind 
of  man !  Scepticism,  which  is  the  basis  of  scientific 
reasoning,  is  an  artificial  thing,  first  created  in  the 
world  under  the  competitive  economic  order  when  it 
became  essential  to  self-preservation  in  a  world  of 
trade  based  on  deceit.  In  our  new  order  we  have 
had  difficulty  in  maintaining  enough  of  it  for  scien- 
tific purposes  even  in  the  intellectual  classes.  There 
is  no  scepticism  among  the  labourers  now,  I  assure 
you.     They  believe  as  easily  as  they  breathe." 

"  Then  how,"  I  demanded  in  amazement,  "  does  it 
come  that  they  do  not  believe  in  God?  " 

"  Because,"  said  Hellar,  "  they  have  never  heard 
of  God. 

"  The  labourer  does  not  know  of  God  because 
we  have  restored  God  since  the  perfection  of  our 
caste  system,  and  hence  it  was  easy  to  promulgate 
the  idea  among  the  intellectuals  and  not  among  the 
workers.  It  was  necessary  to  restore  God  for  the 
intellectuals  in  order  to  give  them  greater  respect 
for  the  power  of  the  Royal  House,  but  the  labourers 
need  no  God  because  they  believe  themselves  to  be 
the  source  from  which  the  Royal  House  derives  its 
right  to  rule.  They  believe  the  Emperor  to  be  their 
own  servant  ruling  by  their  permission." 

"  The  Emperor  a  servant  to  labour !  "  I  ex- 
claimed; "  this  is  absurd." 

"Certainly,"    said   Hellar;    "why   should   it   be 


25o         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

otherwise?  We  are  an  absurd  people,  because  we 
have  always  laughed  at  the  wrong  things.  Still  this 
principle  is  very  old  and  has  not  always  been  con- 
fined to  the  Germans.  After  the  revolutions  in  the 
Twentieth  Century  the  American  plutocrats  em- 
ployed poverty-stricken  European  nobility  for  serv- 
ants and  exalted  them  to  high  stations  and  obeyed 
them  explicitly  in  all  social  matters  with  which  their 
service  was  concerned. 

"  The  labourers  restored  William  III  because 
they  wished  to  have  an  exalted  servant.  He  led 
them  to  war  and  became  a  hero.  He  reorganized 
the  state  and  became  their  political  servant,  also 
their  emperor  and  their  tyrant.  It  is  not  an  impos- 
sible relation,  for  it  is  not  unlike  the  relation  between 
the  mother  and  the  child  or  between  a  man  and  his 
mistress.  And  yet  it  is  different,  more  formal,  with 
functions  better  defined. 

"  The  Emperor  is  the  administrative  head  of  the 
government  and  we  intellectuals  are  merely  his  hire- 
lings. We  are  merely  the  feathers  of  the  Royal 
eagle,  our  colour  is  black,  we  have  no  part  in  the 
red  blood  of  human  brotherhood,  we  are  outcasts 
from  the  socialistic  labour  world  —  for  we  receive 
money  compensation  to  which  labourers  would  not 
stoop.  But  labour  owns  the  state.  This  roof  of 
Berlin  over  our  heads  and  all  that  is  therein  con- 
tained, is  the  property  of  the  workers  who  produced 
it." 

I  shook  my  head  in  mute  admission  of  my  lack  of 
comprehension. 


THE  TALKING  DELEGATE        251 

"  And  who,"  asked  Hellar,  "  did  you  think  owned 
Berlin?" 

I  confessed  that  I  had  never  thought  of  that. 

"  Few  of  our  intellectual  class  have  ever  thought 
of  that,"  replied  Hellar,  "  unless  they  are  well  read 
in  political  history.  But  at  the  time  of  the  Hohen- 
zollern  restoration  labour  owned  all  property  in 
true  communal  ownership.  They  did  not  release  it 
to  the  Royal  House,  but  merely  turned  over  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  property  to  the  Emperor  as  an 
agent." 

These  belated  explanations  of  the  fundamental 
ideas  of  German  society  quite  confused  and  con- 
founded me,  though  Hellar  seemed  in  no  wise  sur- 
prised at  my  ignorance,  since  as  a  chemist  I  had 
originally  been  supposed  to  know  only  of  atoms  and 
valences  and  such  like  matters.  Seeking  a  way  out 
of  these  contradictions  I  asked:  "How  is  it  then 
that  labour  is  so  powerless,  since  you  say  that  it 
owns  the  state,  and  even  the  Emperor  rules  by  its 
permission?  " 

"  Napoleon  —  have  you  ever  heard  of  him?  " 

"  Yes,"  I  admitted  —  and  then  recalling  my  rofe 
as  a  German  chemist  I  hastened  to  add  — "  Napo- 
leon was  a  directing  chemist  who  achieved  a  plan  for 
increasing  the  food  supply  in  his  day  by  establishing 
the  sugar  beet  industry." 

"Is  that  so?"  exclaimed  Hellar.  "I  didn't 
know  that.  I  thought  he  was  only  an  Emperor  — 
anyway,  Napoleon  said  that  if  you  tell  men  they  are 
equal  you  can  do  as  you  please  with  them.     So  when 


252         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

William  III  was  elected  to  the  throne  by  labour,  he 
insisted  that  they  retain  the  power  and  re-elect  him 
every  five  years.  He  was  very  popular  because  he 
invented  the  armoured  city  —  our  new  Berlin  — 
some  day  I  will  tell  you  of  that  —  and  so  of  course 
he  was  re-elected,  and  his  son  after  him.  Though 
most  of  the  intellectuals  do  not  know  that  it  exists 
the  ceremony  of  election  is  a  great  occasion  on  the 
labour  levels.  The  Emperor  speaks  all  day  through 
the  horns  and  on  the  picture  screens.  The  workers 
think  he  is  actually  speaking,  though  of  course  it  is 
a  collection  of  old  films  and  records  of  the  Royal 
Voice.  When  they  have  seen  and  heard  the 
speeches,  the  labourers  vote,  and  then  go  back  to 
their  work  and  are  very  happy." 

"  But  suppose  they  should  sometime  fail  to  re- 
elect him?  " 

"No  danger,"  said  Hellar;  "there  is  only  one 
name  on  the  ballot  and  the  ballots  are  dumped  into 
the  paper  mill  without  inspection." 

"  Most  extraordinary,"  I  exclaimed. 

"  Most  ordinary,"  contradicted  Hellar;  "  it  is  not 
even  an  exclusively  German  institution;  we  have 
merely  perfected  it.  Voting  everywhere  is  a  very 
useful  device  in  organized  government.  In  the 
cruder  form  used  in  democracies  there  were  two  or 
more  candidates.  It  usually  made  little  difference 
which  was  elected;  but  the  system  was  imperfect  be- 
cause the  voters  who  voted  for  the  candidate  which 
lost  were  not  pleased.  Then  there  was  the  trouble 
of  counting  the  ballots.     We  avoid  all  this." 


THE  TALKING  DELEGATE        253 

"  It  is  all  very  interesting,"  I  said,  "  but  who  is 
the  real  authority?  " 

"  Ah,"  said  Hellar,  "  this  matter  of  authority  is 
one  of  our  most  subtle  conceptions.  The  weakness 
of  ancient  governments  was  in  the  fact  that  the  line 
of  authority  was  broken.  It  came  somewhere  to  an 
end.  But  now  authority  flows  up  from  labour  to 
the  Emperor  and  then  descends  again  to  labour 
through  the  administrative  line  of  which  we  are  one 
link.     It  is  an  unbroken  circuit." 

But  I  was  still  unsatisfied,  for  it  annoyed  me  not 
to  be  able  to  understand  the  system  of  German 
politics,  as  I  had  always  prided  myself  that,  for  a 
scientist,  I  understood  politics  remarkably  well. 


I  had  gone  to  Hellar  for  enlightenment  because  I 
was  gravely  alarmed  over  the  rumours  of  a  strike 
among  the  labourers  in  the  Protium  Works.  I  had 
read  in  the  outside  world  of  the  murder  and  de- 
struction of  these  former  civil  wars  of  industry. 
With  a  working  population  so  cruelly  held  to  the 
treadmill  of  industrial  bondage  the  idea  of  a  strike 
conjured  up  in  my  fancy  the  beginning  of  a  bloody 
revolution.  With  so  vast  a  population  so  utterly 
dependent  upon  the  orderly  processes  of  industry 
the  possible  terrors  of  an  industrial  revolution  were 
horrible  beyond  imagining;  and  for  the  moment  all 
thoughts  of  escape,  or  of  my  own  plans  for  nego- 
tiating the  surrender  of  Berlin  to  the  World  State, 
were  swept  aside  by  the  stern  responsibilities  that 


254         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

devolved  upon  me  as  the  Director  of  Works  wherein 
a  terrible  strike  seemed  brewing. 

The  first  rumour  of  the  strike  of  the  labourers  in 
the  Protium  Works  had  come  to  me  from  the  Listen- 
ing-In-Service.  Since  Berlin  was  too  complicated 
and  congested  a  spot  for  wireless  communication  to 
be  practical,  the  electrical  conduct  of  sound  was  by 
antiquated  means  of  metal  wires.  The  workers' 
Free  Speech  Halls  were  all  provided  with  receiving 
horns  by  which  they  made  their  appeals  to  His  Maj- 
esty, of  which  I  shall  speak  presently.  These  in- 
struments were  provided  with  cut-offs  in  the  halls. 
They  had  been  so  designed  by  the  electrical  engi- 
neers, who  were  of  the  intellectual  caste,  that  not 
even  the  workers  who  installed  and  repaired  them 
knew  that  the  cut-offs  were  a  blind  and  that  the 
Listening-in-Service  heard  every  word  that  was  said 
at  their  secret  meetings,  when  all  but  workers  were, 
by  law  and  custom,  excluded  from  the  halls. 

And  so  the  report  came  to  me  that  the  workers 
were  threatening  strike.  Their  grievance  came 
about  in  this  fashion.  My  new  process  had  reduced 
the  number  of  men  needed  in  the  works.  This 
would  require  that  some  of  the  men  be  transferred 
to  other  industries.  But  the  transfer  was  a  slow 
process,  as  all  the  workers  would  have  to  be  exam- 
ined anatomically  and  their  psychic  reflexes  tested 
by  the  labour  assignment  experts  and  those  selected 
re-trained  for  other  labour.  That  work  was  pro- 
ceeding slowly,  for  there  was  a  shortage  of  experts 
because  some  similar  need  of  transfers  existed  in 


THE  TALKING  DELEGATE         255 

one  of  the  metal  industries.  Moreover,  my  labour 
psychologist  considered  it  dangerous  to  transfer  too 
many  men,  as  they  were  creatures  of  habit,  and  he 
advised  that  we  ought  merely  to  cease  to  take  on 
new  workers,  but  wait  for  old  age  and  death  to  re- 
duce the  number  of  our  men,  meanwhile  retaining 
the  use  of  the  old  extraction  process  in  part  of  the 
works. 

"  Impossible,"  I  replied,  "  unless  you  would  have 
your  rations  cut  and  the  city  put  on  a  starvation  diet. 
Do  you  not  know  that  the  reserve  store  of  protium 
that  was  once  enough  to  last  eight  years  is  now  re- 
duced to  less  than  as  many  months'  supply?  " 

"  That  is  none  of  my  affair,"  said  the  labour  psy- 
chologist; "  these  chemical  matters  I  do  not  com- 
prehend. But  I  advise  against  these  transfers,  for 
our  workers  are  already  in  a  furor  about  the  change 
of  operations  in  the  work." 

"  But,"  I  protested,  "  the  new  operations  are 
easier  than  the  old;  besides  we  can  cut  down  the 
speed  of  operations,  which  ought  to  help  you  take 
care  of  these  surplus  men." 

"  Pardon,  Herr  Chief,"  returned  the  elderly  la- 
bour psychologist,  "  you  are  a  great  chemist,  a  very 
great  chemist,  for  your  invention  has  upset  the  la- 
bour operation  more  than  has  anything  that  ever 
happened  in  my  long  experience,  but  I  fear  you  do 
not  realize  how  necessary  it  is  to  go  slow  in  these 
matters.  You  ask  men  who  have  always  opened  a 
faucet  from  left  to  right  to  now  open  one  that  moves 
in  a  vertical  plane.     Here,  I  will  show  you;  move 


256         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

your  arm  so;  do  you  not  see  that  it  takes  different 
muscles?  " 

"  Yes,  of  course,  but  what  of  it?  The  solution 
flows  faster  and  the  operation  is  easier." 

"  It  is  easy  for  you  to  say  that;  for  you  or  me  it 
would  make  no  difference  since  our  muscles  have  all 
been  developed  indiscriminately." 

"  But  what  are  your  labour  gymnasiums  for,  if 
not  to  develop  all  muscles?  " 

"  Now  do  not  misunderstand  me.  I  serve  as  an 
interpreter  between  the  minds  of  the  workers  and 
your  mind  as  Director  of  the  Works.  As  for  the 
muscles  developed  in  the  gymnasium,  those  were  de- 
veloped for  sport  and  not  for  labour.  But  that  is 
not  the  worst  of  it;  you  have  designed  the  new 
benches  so  low  that  the  mixers  must  stoop  at  their 
work.     It  is  very  painful." 

"  Good  God,"  I  cried,  "  what  became  of  the 
stools?  The  mixers  are  to  sit  down  —  I  ordered 
two  thousand  stools." 

"  That  I  know,  Herr  Chief,  but  the  equipment 
expert  consulted  me  about  the  matter  and  I  counter- 
manded the  order.  It  would  never  do.  I  did  not 
consult  you,  it  is  true,  but  that  was  merely  a  kind- 
ness. I  did  not  wish  to  expose  your  lack  of  knowl- 
edge, if  I  may  call  it  such." 

"  Call  it  what  you  please,"  I  snapped,  for  at  the 
time  I  thought  my  labour  psychologist  was  a  fool, 
"  but  get  those  stools,  immediately." 

"  But  it  would  never  do." 

"Why  not?" 


THE  TALKING  DELEGATE        257 

"  Because  these  men  have  always  stood  at  their 
work." 

"  But  why  can  they  not  sit  down  now?  " 

"  Because  they  never  have  sat  down." 

11  Do  they  not  sit  down  to  eat?  " 

"  Yes,  but  not  to  work.  It  is  very  different.  You 
do  not  understand  the  psychic  immobility  of  labour. 
Habits  grow  stronger  as  the  mentality  is  simplified. 
I  have  heard  that  there  are  animals  in  the  zoological 
garden  that  still  perform  useless  operations  that  their 
remote  ancestors  required  in  their  jungle  life." 

"  Then  do  you  infer  that  these  men  who  must 
stand  at  their  work  inherited  the  idea  from  their 
ancestors?  " 

"  That  is  a  matter  of  eugenics.  I  do  not  know, 
but  I  do  know  that  we  are  preparing  for  trouble 
with  these  changes.  Still  I  hope  to  work  it  out  with- 
out serious  difficulty,  if  you  do  not  insist  on  these 
transfers.  When  workmen  have  already  been 
forced  to  change  their  habitual  method  of  work  and 
then  see  their  fellows  being  removed  to  other  and 
still  stranger  work  it  breeds  dangerous  unrest." 

"One  thing  is  certain,"  I  replied;  "we  cannot 
delay  the  installation  of  the  new  method;  as  fast  as 
the  equipment  is  ready  the  new  operation  must  re- 
place the  old." 

"  But  the  effect  of  that  policy  will  be  that  there 
will  not  be  enough  work,  and  besides  the  work  is,  as 
you  say,  lighter  and  that  will  result  in  the  cutting 
down  of  the  food  rations." 

"  But  I  have  already  arranged  that,"  I  said  tri- 


258         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

wnphantly ;  "the  Rationing  Bureau  have  adjusted 
the  calorie  standards  so  that  the  men  will  get  as 
much  food  as  they  have  been  used  to." 

11  What!  you  have  done  that?  "  exclaimed  the  la- 
bour psychologist;  "then  there  will  be  trouble. 
That  will  destroy  the  balance  of  the  food  supply  and 
the  expenditure  of  muscular  energy  and  the  men 
will  get  fat.  Then  the  other  men  will  accuse  them 
of  stealing  food  and  we  shall  have  bloodshed." 

"  A  moment  ago,"  I  smiled,  "  you  told  me  I  did 
not  know  your  business.  Now  I  will  tell  you  that 
you  do  not  know  mine.  We  ordered  special  food 
bulked  up  in  volume;  the  scheme  is  working  nicely; 
you  need  not  worry  about  that.  As  for  the  other 
matter,  this  surplus  of  men,  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
only  thing  is  to  cut  down  the  working  hours  tem- 
porarily until  the  transfers  can  be  made." 

The  psychologist  shook  his  head.  "  It  is  dan- 
gerous," he  said,  "  and  very  unusual.  I  advise  in- 
stead that  you  have  the  operation  engineers  go  over 
the  processes  and  involve  the  operations,  both  to 
make  them  more  nearly  resemble  the  old  ones,  and 
to  add  to  the  time  and  energy  consumption  of  the 
tasks." 

"  No,"  I  said  emphatically,  "  I  invented  a  more 
economical  process  for  this  industry  and  I  do  not 
propose  to  see  my  invention  prostituted  in  this  fash- 
ion. I  appreciate  your  advice,  but  if  we  cannot 
transfer  the  workers  any  faster,  then  the  labour 
hours  must  be  cut.  I  will  issue  the  order  tomorrow. 
This  is  my  final  decision." 


THE  TALKING  DELEGATE         259 

I  was  in  authority  and  that  settled  the  matter. 
The  psychologist  was  very  decent  about  it  and  helped 
me  fix  up  a  speech  and  that  next  night  the  workers 
were  ordered  to  assemble  in  their  halls  and  I  made 
my  speech  into  a  transmitting  horn.  I  told  them 
that  they  had  been  especially  honoured  by  their  Em- 
peror, who,  appreciating  their  valuable  service,  had 
granted  them  a  part-time  vacation  and  that  until 
further  notice  their  six-hour  shifts  were  to  be  cut  to 
four.  I  further  told  them  that  their  rations  would 
not  be  reduced  and  advised  them  to  take  enough 
extra  exercise  in  the  gymnasium  to  offset  their 
shorter  hours  so  they  would  not  get  fat  and  be  the 
envy  of  their  fellows. 

3 

For  a  time  the  workers  seemed  greatly  pleased 
with  their  shorter  hours.  And  then,  from  the 
Listening-in-Service,  came  the  rumour  of  the  strike. 
The  first  report  of  the  strike  gave  me  no  clue  to  the 
grievance  and  I  asked  for  fuller  reports.  When 
these  came  the  next  day  I  was  shocked  beyond  be- 
lief. If  I  had  anticipated  anything  in  that  interval 
of  terror  it  was  that  my  workers  were  to  strike  be- 
cause their  communications  had  been  shut  off  or  that 
they  were  to  strike  in  sympathy  for  their  fellows  and 
demand  that  all  hours  be  shortened  like  their  own. 
But  the  grievance  was  not  that.  My  men  were  to 
go  on  strike  for  the  simple  reason  that  their  hours 
had  been  shortened! 

The  catastrophe  once  started  came  with  a  rush, 


260         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

for  when  I  reached  the  office  the  next  day  the  psy- 
chologist was  awaiting  me  and  told  me  that  the  strike 
was  on.  I  rushed  out  immediately  and  went  down 
to  the  works.  The  psychologist  followed  me.  As 
I  entered  the  great  industrial  laboratorL:  I  saw  all 
the  men  at  their  usual  places  and  going  through 
their  usual  operations.  I  turned  to  my  companion 
who  was  just  coming  up,  and  said:  "  What  do  you 
mean;  I  thought  you  told  me  the  strike  was  on, 
that  the  men  had  already  walked  out?  " 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  '  walked  out '?  "  he  re- 
turned, as  puzzled  as  I. 

'  Walked  out  of  the  works,"  I  explained;  "  away 
from  their  duties,  quit  work.     Struck!  " 

"  But  they  have  struck.  Perhaps  you  have  never 
seen  a  strike  before,  but  do  you  not  see  the  strike 
badges? " 

And  then  I  looked  and  saw  that  every  workman 
wore  a  tiny  red  flag,  and  the  flag  bore  no  imperial 
eagle. 

"  It  means,"  I  gasped,  "  that  they  have  renounced 
the  rule  of  the  Royal  House.  This  is  not  a  strike, 
this  is  rebellion,  treason!  " 

"  It  is  the  custom,"  said  the  labour  psychologist, 
"  and  as  for  rebellion  and  treason  that  you  speak  of 
I  hardly  think  you  ought  to  call  it  that  for  rebellion 
and  treason  are  forbidden." 

"  Then  just  what  does  it  mean?  " 

"  It  means  that  this  particular  group  of  workers 
have  temporarily  withdrawn  their  allegiance  to  the 
Royal  House,  and  they  have,  in  their  own  minds, 


THE  TALKING  DELEGATE        261 

restored  the  old  socialist  regime,  until  they  can  make 
petition  to  the  Emperor  and  he  passes  on  their  griev- 
ance. They  will  do  that  in  their  halls  tonight.  We, 
of  course,  will  be  connected  up  and  listen  in." 
4  Then  they  are  not  really  on  strike?  " 
"  Certainly  they  are  on  strike.  All  strikes  are 
conducted  so." 

'  Then  why  do  they  not  quit  work?  " 
"But  why   should   they   quit   work?     They   are 
striking  because  their  hours  are  already  too  short 
—  pardon,  Herr  Chief,  but  I  warned  you ! 

"  I  think  I  know  what  you  mean,"  he  added  after 
a  pause;  "you  have  probably  read  some  fiction  of 
old  times  when  the  workers  went  on  strike  by  quit- 
ting work." 

'Yes,  exactly.  I  suppose  that  is  where  I  did  get 
my  ideas-  and  that  is  now  forbidden  —  by  the  Em- 
peror? " 

''  Not  by  the  Emperor,  for  you  see  these  men  wear 
the  flags  without  the  eagle.  They  at  present  do  not 
acknowledge  his  authority." 

'  Then  all  this  strike  is  a  matter  of  red  badges 
without  eagles  and  everything  else  will  go  on  as 
usual?" 

"  By  no  means.  These  men  are  striking  against 
the  descending  authority  from  the  Royal  House. 
They  not  only  refuse  to  wear  the  eagle  until  their 
grievance  is  adjusted  but  they  will  refuse  to  accept 
further  education,  for  that  is  a  thing  that  descends 
from  above.  If  you  will  go  now  to  the  picture  halls, 
where  the  other  shift  should  be,  you  will  find  the 


262         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

halls  all  empty.     The  men  refuse  to  go  to  the  mov- 
ing pictures." 

That  night  we  "  listened  in."  A  bull-throated 
fellow,  whom  I  learned  was  the  Talking  Delegate, 
addressed  the  Emperor,  and  much  to  my  surprise  I 
thought  I  heard  the  Emperor's  own  voice  in  reply, 
stating  that  he  was  ready  to  hear  their  grievance. 

Then  the  bull  voice  of  the  Talking  Delegate  gave 
the  reason  for  the  strike:  "The  Director  of  the 
Works,  speaking  for  your  Majesty,  has  granted  us 
a  part  time  vacation,  and  shortened  our  hours  from 
six  to  four.  We  thank  you  for  this  honour  but  we 
have  decided  we  do  not  like  it.  We  do  not  know 
what  to  do  during  those  extra  two  hours.  We  had 
our  games  and  amusements  but  we  had  our  regular 
hours  for  them.  If  we  play  longer  we  become  tired 
of  play.  If  we  sleep  longer  we  cannot  sleep  as  well. 
Moreover  we  are  losing  our  appetite  and  some  of  us 
are  afraid  to  eat  all  our  portions  for  fear  we  will 
become  fat.  So  we  have  decided  that  we  do  not 
like  a  four-hour  day  and  we  have  therefore  taken 
the  eagles  off  our  flags  and  will  refuse  to  replace 
them  or  to  go  to  the  educational  pictures  until  our 
hours  are  restored  to  the  six-hour  day  that  we  have 
always  had." 

And  now  the  Emperor's  voice  replied  that  he 
would  take  the  matter  under  consideration  and  re- 
port his  decision  in  three  days  and,  that  meanwhile 
he  knew  he  could  trust  them  to  conduct  themselves 
as  good  socialists  who  were  on  strike,  and  hence 
needed  no  king. 


THE  TALKING  DELEGATE        263 

The  next  day  the  psychologist  brought  a  repre- 
sentat.ve  of  the  Information  Staff  to  my  office  and 
together  we  wrote  the  reply  that  the  Emperor  was 
to  make.     It  would  be  necessary  to  concede  them 
the  full  six  hours  and  introduce  the  system  of  com- 
pl.cat.ng  the  labour  operations  to  make  more  work 
Much  chagrined,  I  gave  in,  and  called  in  the  motion 
study  engmeers  and  set  them  to  the  task.      Mean- 
while the  Royal  Voice  was  sent  for  and  coached  in 
he  Emperor  s  reply  to  the  striking  workmen,  and 
a  p  cture  film  of  the  Emperor,  timed  to  fit  the  length 
ot  the  speech,  was  ordered  from  stock. 

The  Royal  Voice  was  an  actor  by  birth  who  had 
been  trained  to  im.tate  His  Majesty's  speech.     This 
man,  who  specialized  in  the  Emperor's  speeches  to 
the  workers,  prided  himself  that  he  was  the  best 
Royal  Voice  ,n  Berlin  and  I  complimented  him  by 
telling  him  that  I  had  been  deceived  by  him  the  eve- 
nmg    before.     But    considering    that    the    workers, 
never  having  heard  the  Emperor's  real  voice,  would 
have  no  standard  of  comparison,  I  have  never  been 
able  to  see  the  necessity  of  the  accuracy  of  his  imita- 
Hon,  unless  ,t  was  on  the  ground  of  art  for  art's 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  DIVINE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM  THE  GREAT 

GIVE  A  BENEFIT  FOR  THE  CANINE  GARDENS 

AND  PAY  TRIBUTE  TO  THE  PIGGERIES 


THE  strike  that  I  had  feared  would  be  the 
beginning  of  a  bloody  revolution  had  ended 
with  an  actor  shouting  into  a  horn  and  the 
shadow  of  an  Emperor  waving  his  arms.  But  mean- 
while Capt.  Grauble,  on  whom  I  staked  my  hopes  of 
escape  from  Berlin,  had  departed  to  the  Arctic  and 
would  not  return  for  many  months.  That  he  would 
return  I  firmly  believed ;  statistically  the  chances  were 
in  his  favour  as  this  was  his  fourth  trip,  and  hope 
was  backing  the  favourable  odds  of  the  law  of 
chance. 

So  I  set  myself  to  prepare  for  that  event.  My 
faith  was  strong  that  Grauble  could  be  won  over 
to  the  cause  of  saving  the  Germans  by  betraying  Ger- 
many. I  did  not  even  consider  searching  for  an- 
other man,  for  Grauble  was  that  one  rare  man  in 
thousands  who  is  rebellious  and  fearless  by  nature, 
a  type  of  which  the  world  makes  heroes  when  their 
cause  wins  and  traitors  when  it  fails  —  a  type  that 
Germany  had  all  but  eliminated  from  the  breed  of 
men. 

But,  if  I  were  to  escape  to  the  outer  world  through 
264 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     265 

Grauble's  connivance,  there  was  still  the  problem 
of  getting  permission  to  board  the  submarine,  osten- 
sibly to  go  to  the  Arctic  mines.  Even  in  my  exalted 
position  as  head  of  the  protium  works  I  could  not 
learn  where  the  submarine  docks  or  the  passage  to 
them  was  located.  But  I  did  learn  enough  to  know 
that  the  way  was  impenetrable  without  authorita- 
tive permission,  and  that  thoughts  of  escape  as  a 
stowaway  were  not  worth  considering.  I  also 
learned  that  Admiral  von  Kufner  had  sole  authority 
to  grant  permission  to  make  the  Arctic  trip. 

The  Admiral  had  promptly  turned  down  my  first 
proposal  to  go  to  the  Arctic  ore  fields,  and  had  by 
his  pompous  manner  rebuffed  the  attempts  I  made 
to  cultivate  his  friendship  through  official  interviews. 
I  therefore  decided  to  call  on  Marguerite  and  the 
Countess  Luise  to  see  what  chance  there  was  to  get 
a  closer  approach  to  the  man  through  social  avenues. 
The  Countess  was  very  obliging  in  the  matter,  but 
she  warned  me  with  lifted  finger  that  the  Admiral 
was  a  gay  bachelor  and  a  worshipper  of  feminine 
charms,  and  that  I  might  rue  the  day  I  suggested 
his  being  invited  into  the  admiring  circle  that  re- 
volved about  Marguerite.  But  I  laughingly  dis- 
claimed any  fears  on  that  score  and  von  Kufner  was 
bidden  to  the  next  ball  given  by  the  Countess. 

Marguerite  was  particularly  gracious  to  the  Ad- 
miral and  speedily  led  him  into  the  inner  circle  that 
gathered  informally  in  the  salon  of  the  Countess 
Luise.  I  made  it  a  point  to  absent  myself  on  some 
of  these  occasions,  for  I  did  not  want  the  Admiral 


266         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

to  guess  the  purpose  that  lay  behind  this  ensnaring 
of  him  into  our  group. 

And  yet  I  saw  much  of  Marguerite,  for  I  spent 
most  of  my  leisure  in  the  society  of  the  Royal  Level, 
where  thought,  if  shallow,  was  comparatively  free. 
I  took  particular  pleasure  in  watching  the  growth 
of  Marguerite's  mind,  as  the  purely  intellectual  con- 
ceptions she  had  acquired  from  Dr.  Zimmern  and 
his  collection  of  books  adjusted  itself  to  the  absurd 
realities  of  the  celestial  society  of  the  descendants 
of  William  the  Great. 

It  may  be  that  charity  is  instinctive  in  the  heart  of 
a  good  woman,  or  perhaps  it  was  because  she  had 
read  the  Christian  Bible;  but  whatever  the  origin  oi 
the  impulse,  Marguerite  was  charitably  inclined  and 
wished  to  make  personal  sacrifice  for  the  benefit  of 
other  beings  less  well  situated  than  herself.  While 
she  was  still  a  resident  of  the  Free  Level  she  had 
talked  to  me  of  this  feeling  and  of  her  desire  to 
help  others.  But  the  giving  of  money  or  valuables 
by  one  woman  to  another  was  strictly  forbidden, 
and  Marguerite  had  not  at  the  time  possessed  more 
than  she  needed  for  her  own  subsistence.  But  now 
that  she  was  relatively  well  off,  this  charitable  feel- 
ing struggled  to  find  expression.  Hence  when  she 
had  learned  of  the  Royal  Charity  Society  she  had 
straightway  begged  the  Countess  to  present  her  name 
for  membership,  without  stopping  to  examine  into 
the  detail  of  the  Society's  activities. 

The  Society  was  at  that  time  preparing  to  hold  a 
bazaar  and  sent  out  calls  for  contributions  of  cast 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     267 

off  clothing  and  ornaments.     Marguerite  as  yet  pos- 
sessed no  clothes  or  jewelry  of  Royal  quality  except 
the  minimum  which   the   demands   of  her  position 
made  necessary;  and  so  she  timidly  asked  the  Coun- 
tess if  her  clothing  which  she  had  worn  on  the  Free 
Level  would  suffice  as  gifts  of  charity.     The  Coun- 
tess had  assured  her  that  it  would  do  nicely  as  the 
destination  of  all  the  clothing  contributed  was  for 
the  women  of  the  Free  Level.     Thinking  that  an 
opportunity  had  at  last  arisen  for  her  to  express  her 
compassion   for  the   ill-favoured  girls   of  her   own 
former  level,    Marguerite   hastened   to   bundle   up 
such  presentable  gowns  as  she  had  and  sent  them  to 
the  bazaar  by  her  maid. 

Later  she  had  attended  the  meeting  of  the  so- 
ciety when  the  net  results  of  the  collections  were  an- 
nounced. To  her  dismay  she  found  that  the  cloth- 
ing contributed  had  been  sold  for  the  best  price  it 
would  bring  to  the  women  of  the  Free  Level  and 
that  the  purpose  of  the  sacrifices,  of  that  which  was 
useless  to  the  possessors  but  valuable  to  others,  was 
the  defraying  of  the  expense  of  extending  the  romp- 
ing grounds  for  the  dogs  of  the  charitably  maintained 
canine  garden. 

Marguerite  was  vigorously  debating  the  philoso- 
phy of  charity  with  the  young  Count  Rudolph  that 
evening  when  I  called.  She  was  maintaining  that 
human  beings  and  not  animals  should  be  the  re- 
cipients of  charity  and  the  young  Count  was  ex- 
pounding to  her  the  doctrine  of  the  evil  effects  of 
charity  upon  the  recipient. 


268         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

"  Moreover,"  explained  Count  Rudolph,  "  there 
are  no  humans  in  Berlin  that  need  charity,  since  every 
class  of  our  efficiently  organized  State  receives  ex- 
actly what  it  should  receive  and  hence  is  in  need  of 
nothing.  Charity  is  permissible  only  when  poverty 
exists." 

"  But  there  is  poverty  on  the  Free  Level,"  main- 
tained Marguerite;  "  many  of  the  ill-favoured  girls 
suffer  from  hunger  and  want  better  clothes  than 
they  can  buy." 

"  That  may  be,"  said  the  Count,  "  but  to  permit 
them  gifts  of  charity  would  be  destructive  of  their 
pride;  moreover,  there  are  few  women  on  the  Royal 
Level  who  would  give  for  such  a  purpose." 

"  But  surely,"  said  Marguerite,  "  there  must  be 
somewhere  in  the  city,  other  women  or  children  or 
even  men  to  whom  the  proceeds  of  these  gifts  would 
mean  more  than  it  does  to  dogs." 

"  If  any  group  needed  anything  the  state  would 
provide  it,"  repeated  the  Count. 

11  Then  why,"  protested  Marguerite,  "  cannot  the 
state  provide  also  for  the  dogs,  or  if  food  and  space 
be  lacking  why  are  these  dogs  allowed  to  breed  and 
multiply?" 

"  Because  it  would  be  cruel  to  suppress  their  in- 
stincts." 

Marguerite  was  puzzled  by  this  answer,  but  with 
my  more  rational  mind  I  saw  a  flaw  in  the  logic  of 
this  statement.  "  But  that  is  absurd,"  I  said,  "  for 
if  their  number  were  not  checked  in  some  fashion, 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     269 

in  a  few  decades  the  dogs  would  overswarm  the 
city." 

It  was  now  the  Count's  turn  to  look  puzzled. 
"  You  have  inferred  an  embarrassing  question,"  he 
stated,  "  one,  in  fact,  that  ought  not  to  be  answered 
in  the  presence  of  a  lady,  but  since  the  Princess  Mar- 
guerite does  not  seem  to  be  a  lover  of  dogs,  I  will 
risk  the  explanation.  The  Medical  Level  requires 
dogs  for  purposes  of  scientific  research.  Since  the 
women  are  rarely  good  mathematicians,  it  is  easily 
possible  in  this  manner  to  keep  down  the  population 
of  the  Canine  Garden." 

"  But  the  dogs  required  for  research,"  I  sug- 
gested, "  could  easily  be  bred  in  kennels  maintained 
for  that  purpose." 

"  So  they  could,"  said  the  Count,  "  but  the  pres- 
ent plan  serves  a  double  purpose.  It  provides  the 
doctors  with  scalpel  practise  and  it  also  amuses 
the  women  of  the  Royal  House  who  are  very  much 
in  need  of  amusement  since  we  men  are  all  so  dull. 

"  Woman's  love,"  continued  Rudolph,  waxing  elo- 
quent, "  should  have  full  freedom  for  unfoldment. 
If  it  be  forcibly  confined  to  her  husband  and  chil- 
dren it  might  burst  its  bounds  and  express  too  great 
an  interest  in  other  humans.  The  dogs  act  as  a  sort 
of  safety  valve  for  this  instinct  of  charity." 

The  facetious  young  Count  saw  from  Marguer- 
ite's horror-stricken  face  that  he  was  making  a 
marked  impression  and  he  recklessly  continued: 
"  The  keepers  at  the  Canine  Gardens  understand 
this  perfectly.     When  funds  begin  to  run  low  they 


270         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

put  the  dogs  in  the  outside  pens  on  short  rations, 
and  the  brutes  do  their  own  begging;  then  we  have 
another  bazaar  and  everybody  is  happy.  It  is  a 
good  system  and  I  would  advise  you  not  to  criticize 
it  since  the  institution  is  classic.  Other  schemes  have 
been  tried;  at  one  time  women  were  permitted  to  knit 
socks  for  soldiers  —  we  always  put  that  in  historical 
pictures  —  but  the  socks  had  to  be  melted  up  again 
as  felted  fibre  is  much  more  durable;  and  then,  after 
the  women  were  forbidden  to  see  the  soldiers,  they 
lost  interest.  But  the  dog  charity  is  a  proven  insti- 
tution and  we  should  never  try  to  change  anything 
that  women  do  not  want  changed  since  they  are  the 
conservative  bulwark  of  society  and  our  best  protec- 
tion against  the  danger  of  the  untried." 


Blocked  in  her  effort  to  relieve  human  poverty  by 
the  discovery  that  its  existence  was  not  recognized, 
Marguerite's  next  adventure  in  doing  good  in  the 
world  was  to  take  up  the  battle  against  ignorance 
by  contributing  to  the  School  for  the  Education  of 
Servants. 

The  Servant  problem  in  Berlin,  and  particularly 
on  the  Royal  Level,  had  been  solved  so  far  as  male 
servants  were  concerned,  for  these  were  a  well  rec- 
ognized strain  eugenically  bred  as  a  division  of  the 
intellectual  caste.  I  had  once  taken  Dr.  Zimmern 
to  task  on  this  classification  of  the  servant  as  an  in- 
tellectual. 

11  The  servant  is  not  intellectual  creatively,"  the 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     271 

Eugenist  replied,  "  yet  it  would  never  do  to  class  him 
as  Labour  since  he  produces  nothing.  Moreover, 
the  servant's  mind  reveals  the  most  specialized  de- 
velopment of  the  most  highly  prized  of  all  German 
intellectual  characteristics  —  obedience. 

"  It  might  interest  you  to  know,"  continued  Zim- 
mern,  "  that  we  use  this  servant  strain  in  outcrossing 
with  other  strains  when  they  show  a  tendency  to 
decline  in  the  virtue  of  obedience.  If  I  had  not 
chosen  to  exempt  you  from  paternity  when  your  re- 
bellious instincts  were  reported  to  me,  and  the  mat- 
ter had  been  turned  over  to  our  Remating  Board 
they  might  have  reassigned  you  to  mothers  of  the 
servant  class.  This  practice  of  out-crossing,  though 
rare,  is  occasionally  essential  in  all  scientific  breed- 
ing." 

1  Then  do  you  mean,"  I  asked  in  amazement, 
"  that  the  highest  intellectual  strains  have  servant 
blood  in  them?  " 

"  Certainly.  And  why  not,  since  obedience  is  the 
crowning  glory  of  the  German  mind?  Even  Royal 
blood  has  a  dash  of  the  servant  strain." 

'  You  mean,  I  suppose,  from  illegitimate  chil- 
dren?" 

"  Not  at  all;  that  sort  of  illegitimacy  is  not  recog- 
nized. I  mean  from  the  admission  of  servants  into 
Royal  Society,  just  as  you  have  been  admitted." 

"Impossible!" 

"  And  why  impossible,  since  obedience  is  our  su- 
preme racial  virtue?  Go  consult  your  social  regis- 
ter.    The  present  Emperor,  I  believe,  has  admitted 


272         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

none,  but  his  father  admitted  several  and  gave  them 
princely  incomes.  They  married  well  and  their  chil- 
dren are  respected,  though  I  understand  they  are  not 
very  much  invited  out  for  the  reason  that  they  are 
poor  conversationalists.  They  only  speak  when 
spoken  to  and  then  answer,  '  Ja,  Mein  Herr.'  I 
hear  they  are  very  miserable;  since  no  one  commands 
them  they  must  be  very  bored  with  life,  as  they  are 
unabLe  to  think  of  anything  to  do  to  amuse  them- 
selves. In  time  the  trait  will  be  modified,  of  course, 
since  the  Royal  blood  will  soon  predominate,  and  the 
strongest  inherent  trait  of  Royalty  is  to  seek  amuse- 
ment." 

This  specialized  class  of  men  servants  needed  lit- 
tle education,  for,  as  I  took  more  interest  in  observ- 
ing after  this  talk  with  Zimmern,  they  were  the  most 
perfectly  fitted  to  their  function  of  any  class  in  Ber- 
lin. But  there  was  also  a  much  more  numerous 
class  of  women  servants  on  the  Royal  Level. 
These,  as  a  matter  of  economy,  were  not  specially 
bred  to  the  office,  but  were  selected  from  the  moth- 
ers who  had  been  rejected  for  further  maternity 
after  the  birth  of  one  or  two  children.  Be  it  said 
to  the  credit  of  the  Germans  that  no  women  who 
had  once  borne  a  child  was  ever  permitted  to  take 
up  the  profession  of  Delilah  —  a  statement  which 
unfortunately  cannot  be  made  of  the  rest  of  the 
world.  These  mothers  together  with  those  who 
had  passed  the  child  bearing  age  more  than  supplied 
the  need  for  nurses  on  the  maternity  levels  and  teach- 
ers in  girls'  schools. 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     273 

As  a  result  they  swarmed  the  Royal  Level  in  all 
capacities  of  service  for  which  women  are  fitted. 
Originally  educated  for  maternity  they  had  to  be  re- 
educated for  service.  Not  satisfied  with  the  official 
education  provided  by  the  masculine-ordered  state, 
the  women  of  the  Royal  Level  maintained  a  contin- 
uation school  in  the  fine  art  of  obedience  and  the 
kindred  virtues  of  the  perfect  servant. 

So  again  it  was  that  Marguerite  became  involved 
in  a  movement  that  in  no  wise  expressed  the  needs 
of  her  spirit,  and  from  which  she  speedily  with- 
drew. 

The  next  time  she  came  to  me  for  advice.  "  I 
want  to  do  something,"  she  cried.  "  I  want  to  be 
of  some  use  in  the  world.  You  saved  me  from  that 
awful  life  —  for  you  know  what  it  would  have  been 
for  me  if  Dr.  Zimmem  had  died  or  his  disloyalty 
had  been  discovered  —  and  you  have  brought  me 
here  where  I  have  riches  and  position  but  am  useless. 
I  tried  to  be  charitable,  to  relieve  poverty,  but  they 
say  there  is  no  poverty  to  be  relieved.  I  tried  to 
relieve  ignorance,  but  they  will  not  allow  that  either. 
What  else  is  there  that  needs  to  be  relieved?  Is 
there  no  good  I  can  do?  " 

"  Your  problem  is  not  a  new  one,"  I  replied,  think- 
ing of  the  world-old  experience  of  the  good  women 
yoked  to  idleness  by  wealth  and  position.  "  You 
have  tried  to  relieve  poverty  and  ignorance  and  find 
your  efforts  futile.  There  is  one  thing  more  I  be- 
lieve that  is  considered  a  classic  remedy  for  your 
trouble.     You  can  devote  yourself  to  the  elimina- 


274         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

tion  of  ugliness,  to  the  increase  of  beauty.  Is  there 
no  organization  devoted  to  that  work?  " 

"  There  is,"  returned  Marguerite,  "  and  I  was 
about  to  join  it,  but  I  thought  this  time  I  had  better 
ask  advice.  There  is  the  League  to  Beautify  Ber- 
lin." 

"  Then  by  all  means  join,"  I  advised.  "  It  is  the 
safest  of  all  such  efforts,  for  though  poverty  may 
not  exist  and  ignorance  may  not  be  relieved,  yet 
surely  Berlin  can  be  more  beautiful.  But  of  course 
your  efforts  must  be  confined  to  the  Royal  Level  as 
you  do  not  see  the  rest  of  the  city." 

So  Marguerite  joined  the  League  to  Beautify 
Berlin  and  I  became  an  auxiliary  member  much  ap- 
preciated because  of  my  liberal  contributions.  It 
proved  an  excellent  source  of  amusement.  The 
League  met  weekly  and  discussed  the  impersonal 
aspects  of  the  beauty  of  the  level  in  open  meetings, 
while  a  secret  complaint  box  was  maintained  into 
which  all  were  invited  to  deposit  criticisms  of  more 
personal  matters.  It  was  forbidden  even  in  this 
manner  to  criticize  irremedial  ugliness  such  as  the 
matter  of  one's  personal  form  or  features,  but  dress 
and  manners  came  within  the  permitted  range  and 
the  complaints  were  regularly  mailed  to  the  offend- 
ers. This  surprised  me  a  little  as  I  would  have 
thought  that  such  a  practice  would  have  made  the 
League  unpopular,  but  on  the  contrary,  it  was  con- 
sidered the  mainstay  of  the  organization,  for  the 
recipient  of  the  complaint,  if  a  non-member,  very 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     275 

often  joined  the  League  immediately,  hoping  thereby 
to  gain  sweet  revenge. 

But  aside  from  this  safety  valve  for  the  desire  to 
make  personal  criticism,  the  League  was  a  very  cred- 
itable institution  and  it  was  there  that  we  met  the 
great  critics  to  whose  untiring  efforts  the  rare  de- 
velopment of  German  art  was  due. 

Cut  off  from  the  opportunity  to  appropriate  by 
purchase  or  capture  the  works  of  other  peoples, 
German  art  had  suffered  a  severe  decline  in  the  first 
few  generations  of  the  isolation,  but  in  time  they 
had  developed  an  art  of  their  own.  A  great  abun- 
dance of  cast  statues  of  white  crystal  adorned  the 
plazas  and  gardens  and,  being  unexposed  to  dust 
or  rain,  they  preserved  their  pristine  freshness  so 
that  it  appeared  they  had  all  been  made  the  day 
before.  Mural  paintings  also  flourished  abundantly 
and  in  some  sections  the  endless  facade  of  the  apart- 
ments was  a  continuous  pageant. 

But  it  was  in  landscape  gardening  that  German  art 
had  made  its  most  wonderful  advancement.  Hav- 
ing small  opportunity  for  true  architecture  because 
of  the  narrow  engineering  limitations  of  the  city's 
construction,  talent  for  architecture  had  been  turned 
to  landscape  gardening.  I  use  the  term  advisedly 
for  the  very  absence  of  natural  landscape  within  a 
roofed-in  city  had  resulted  in  greater  development 
of  the  artificial  product. 

The  earlier  efforts,  few  of  which  remained  unal- 
tered, were  more  inclined  toward  imitation  of  Na- 


276         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

ture  as  it  exists  in  the  world  of  sun  and  rocks  and 
rain.  But,  as  the  original  models  were  forgotten 
and  new  generations  of  gardeners  arose,  new  sorts 
of  nature  were  created.  Artificial  rocks,  artificial 
soil,  artificially  bred  and  cultured  plants,  were  com- 
bined in  new  designs,  unrealistic  it  is  true,  but  still 
a  very  wonderful  development  of  what  might  be 
called  synthetic  or  romantic  nature.  The  water 
alone  was  real  and  even  in  some  cases  that  was 
altered  as  in  the  beautifully  dyed  rivulets  and  in  the 
truly  remarkable  "  Fountain  of  Blood,"  dedicated 
to  one  of  the  sons  of  William  the  Great  —  I  have 
forgotten  his  name  —  in  honour  of  his  attack  upon 
Verdun  in  the  First  World  War. 

In  these  wondrous  gardens,  with  the  Princess 
Marguerite  strolling  by  my  side,  I  spent  the  happiest 
hours  of  my  sojourn  in  Berlin.  But  my  joy  was 
tangled  with  a  thread  of  sadness  for  the  more  I 
gazed  upon  this  synthetic  nature  of  German  creation 
the  more  I  hungered  to  tell  her  of,  and  to  take  her 
to  see,  the  real  Nature  of  the  outside  world  —  upon 
which,  in  my  opinion,  with  all  due  respect  to  their 
achievements,  the  Germans  had  not  been  able  to 
improve. 

3 

While  the  women  of  the  Royal  House  were  not 
permitted  of  their  own  volition  to  stray  from  the 
Royal  Level,  excursions  were  occasionally  arranged, 
with  proper  permits  and  guards.  These  were  social 
events  of  consequence  and  the  invitations  were  highly 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     277 

prized.  Noteworthy  among  them  was  an  excursion 
to  the  highest  levels  of  the  city  and  to  the  roof  it- 
self. 

The  affair  was  planned  by  Admiral  von  Kufner 
in  Marguerite's  honour;  for,  having  spent  her  child- 
hood elsewhere,  she  had  never  experienced  the  won- 
der of  this  roof  excursion  so  highly  prized  by  Roy- 
alty, and  for  ever  forbidden  to  all  other  women  and 
to  all  but  a  few  men  of  the  teeming  millions  who 
swarmed  like  larvae  in  this  vast  concrete  cheese. 

The  formal  invitations  set  no  hour  for  the  excur- 
sion as  it  was  understood  that  the  exact  time  de- 
pended upon  weather  conditions  of  which  we  would 
later  be  notified.  When  this  notice  came  the  hour 
set  was  in  the  conventional  evening  of  the  Royal 
Level,  but  corresponding  to  about  three  A.  M.  by 
solar  time.  The  party  gathered  at  the  suite  of  the 
'Countess  Luise  and  numbered  some  forty  people, 
for  whom  a  half  dozen  guides  were  provided  in 
the  form  of  officers  of  the  Roof  Guard.  The  jour- 
ney to  our  romantic  destination  took  us  up  some  hun- 
dred metres  in  an  elevator,  a  trip  which  required  but 
two  minutes,  but  would  lead  to  a  world  as  different 
as  Mount  Olympus  from  Erebus. 

But  we  did  not  go  directly  to  the  roof,  for  the 
hour  preferred  for  that  visit  had  not  yet  arrived  and 
our  first  stop  was  at  the  swine  levels,  which  had  so 
aroused  my  curiosity  and  strained  belief  when  I  had 
first  discovered  their  existence  from  the  chart  of  my 
atlas. 

As  the  door  of  the  elevator  shaft  slid  open,  a  vast 


278         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

squealing  and  grunting  assaulted  our  ears.  The 
hours  of  the  swine,  like  those  of  their  masters,  were 
not  reckoned  by  either  solar  or  sidereal  time,  but 
had  been  altered,  as  experiment  had  demonstrated, 
to  a  more  efficient  cycle.  The  time  of  our  trip  was 
chosen  so  that  we  might  have  this  earthly  music  of 
the  feeding  time  as  a  fitting  prelude  to  the  visioning 
of  the  silent  heavens. 

On  the  visitors'  gangway  we  walked  just  above  the 
reach  of  the  jostling  bristly  backs,  and  our  own  heads 
all  but  grazed  the  low  ceiling  of  the  level.  To  econ- 
omize power  the  lights  were  dim.  Despite  the  mas- 
terful achievement  of  German  cleanliness  and  sani- 
tation there  was  a  permeating  odour,  a  mingling  of 
natural  and  synthetic  smells,  which  added  to  the 
gloom  of  semi-darkness  and  the  pandemonium  of 
swinish  sound  produced  a  totality  of  infernal  effect 
that  thwarts  description. 

But  relief  was  on  the  way  for  the  automatic  feed 
conveyors  were  rapidly  moving  across  our  section. 
First  we  heard  a  diminution  of  sound  from  one  di- 
rection, then  a  hasty  scuffling  and  a  happy  grunting 
beneath  us  and,  as  the  conveyors  moved  swiftly  on, 
the  squealing  receded  into  the  distance  like  the  dying 
roar  of  a  retreating  storm. 

The  Chief  Swineherd,  immaculately  dressed  and 
wearing  his  full  quota  of  decorations  and  medals, 
honoured  us  with  his  personal  presence.  With  the 
excusable  pride  that  every  worthy  man  takes  in  his 
work,  he  expounded  the  scientific  achievements  and 
economic  efficiency  of  the  swinish  world  over  which 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     279 

he  reigned.  The  men  of  the  party  listened  with 
respect  to  his  explanations  of  the  accomplishments 
of  sanitation  and  of  the  economy  of  the  cycle  of 
chemical  transformation  by  which  these  swine  were 
maintained  without  decreasing  the  capacity  of  the 
city  for  human  support.  Lastly  the  Swineherd 
spoke  of  the  protection  that  the  swine  levels  pro- 
vided against  the  effects  of  an  occasional  penetrating 
bomb  that  chanced  to  fall  in  the  crater  of  its  prede- 
cessor before  the  damage  could  be  repaired. 

Pursuant  to  this  fact  the  uppermost  swine  level 
housed  those  unfortunate  animals  that  were  nearest 
the  sausage  stage.  On  the  next  lower  level,  to  which 
we  now  descended  by  a  spiral  stair  through  a  venti- 
lating opening,  were  brutes  of  less  advanced  ages. 
On  the  lowest  of  the  three  levels  where  special  lights 
were  available  for  our  benefit  even  the  women  ceased 
to  shudder  and  gave  expression  to  ecstatic  cries  of 
rapture,  as  all  the  world  has  ever  done  when  seeing 
baby  beasts  pawing  contentedly  at  maternal  founts. 

"  Is  it  not  all  wonderful?  "  effused  Admiral  von 
Kufner,  with  a  sweeping  gesture;  "so  efficient,  so 
sanitary,  so  automatic,  such  a  fine  example  of  obedi- 
ence to  system  and  order.  This  is  what  I  call  real 
science  and  beauty;  one  might  almost  say  Germanic 
beauty." 

"  But  I  do  not  like  it,"  replied  Marguerite  with 
her  usual  candour.  "  I  wish  they  would  abolish 
these  horrid  levels." 

"  But  surely,"  said  the  Countess,  "  you  would  not 
wish  to  condemn  us  to  a  diet  of  total  mineralism?  " 


280         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

"  But  the  Herr  Chemist  here  could  surely  invent 
for  us  a  synthetic  sausage,"  remarked  Count  Ru- 
dolph. "  I  have  eaten  vegetarian  kraut  made  of 
real  cabbage  from  the  Botanical  Garden,  but  it  was 
inferior  to  the  synthetic  article." 

"  Do  not  make  light,  young  people,"  spoke  up  the 
most  venerable  member  of  our  party,  the  eminent 
Herr  Dr.  von  Brausmorganwetter,  the  historian 
laureate  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern.  "  It  is  not 
as  a  producer  of  sausages  alone  that  we  Germans 
are  indebted  to  this  worthy  animal.  I  am  now  en- 
gaged in  writing  a  book  upon  the  influence  of  the 
swine  upon  German  Kultur.  In  the  first  part  I  shall 
treat  of  the  Semitic  question.  The  Jews  were  very 
troublesome  among  us  in  the  days  before  the  isola- 
tion. They  were  a  conceited  race.  As  capitalists, 
they  amassed  fortunes;  as  socialists  they  stirred  up 
rebellion;  they  objected  to  war;  they  would  never 
have  submitted  to  eugenics;  they  even  insisted  that 
we  Germans  had  stolen  their  God! 

"  We  tried  many  schemes  to  be  rid  of  these  trou- 
blesome people,  and  all  failed.  Therefore  I  say 
that  Germany  owes  a  great  debt  to  the  noble  animal 
who  rid  us  of  the  disturbing  presence  of  the  Jews, 
for  when  pork  was  made  compulsory  in  the  diet  they 
fled  the  country  of  their  own  accord. 

"  In  the  second  part  of  my  book  I  shall  tell  the 
story  of  the  founding  of  the  New  Berlin,  for  our 
noble  city  was  modelled  on  the  fortified  piggeries  of 
the  private  estates  of  William  III.     In  those  days 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     281 

of  the  open  war  the  enemy  bombed  the  stock  farms. 
Synthetic  foods  were  as  yet  imperfectly  developed. 
Protein  was  at  a  premium;  the  emperor  did  not  like 
fish,  so  he  built  a  vast  concrete  structure  with  a  roof 
heavily  armoured  with  sand  that  he  might  preserve 
his  swine  from  the  murderous  attacks  of  the  enemy 
planes. 

"  It  was  during  the  retreat  from  Peking.  The 
German  armies  were  being  crowded  back  on  every 
side.  The  Ray  had  been  invented,  but  William 
the  III  knew  that  it  could  not  be  used  to  protect 
so  vast  a  domain  and  that  Germany  would  be  penned 
into  narrow  borders  and  be  in  danger  of  extermina- 
tion by  aerial  bombardment.  In  those  days  he  went 
for  rest  and  consolation  to  his  estates,  for  he  took 
great  pleasure  in  his  thoroughbred  swine.  Some 
traitorous  spy  reported  his  move  to  the  enemy  and 
a  bombing  squadron  attacked  the  estates.  The  Em- 
peror took  refuge  in  his  fortified  piggery.  And  so 
the  great  vision  came  to  him. 

"  I  have  read  the  exact  words  of  this  thoughts  as 
recorded  in  his  diary  which  is  preserved  in  the  ar- 
chives of  the  Royal  Palace:  'As  are  these  happy 
brutes,  so  shall  my  people  be.  In  safety  from  the 
terrors  of  the  sky  —  protected  from  the  vicissitudes 
of  nature  and  the  enmity  of  men,  so  shall  I  preserve 
them.' 

"  That  was  the  conception  of  the  armoured  city 
of  Berlin.  But  that  was  not  all.  For  the  bom- 
bardment kept  up  for  days  and  the  Emperor  could 


282         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

not  escape.  On  the  fourth  day  came  the  second 
idea  —  two  new  ideas  in  less  than  a  week !  William 
III  was  a  great  thinker. 

"  Thus  he  recorded  the  second  inspiration:  '  And 
even  as  I  have  bred  these  swine,  some  for  bacon  and 
some  for  lard,  so  shall  the  German  Blond  Brutes 
be  bred  the  supermen,  some  specialized  for  labour 
and  some  for  brains.' 

"  These  two  ideas  are  the  foundation  of  the  kul- 
tur  of  our  Imperial  Socialism,  the  one  idea  to  pre- 
serve us  and  the  other  to  re-create  us  as  the  super- 
race.  And  both  of  these  ideas  we  owe  to  this  noble 
animal.  The  swine  should  be  emblazoned  with  the 
eagle  upon  our  flag." 

As  the  Historian  finished  his  eulogy,  I  glanced 
surreptitiously  at  the  faces  of  his  listeners,  and 
caught  a  twinkle  in  Marguerite's  eyes;  but  the  faces 
of  the  others  were  as  serious  as      aven  images. 

Finally  the  Countess  spoke:  "  Do  I  understand, 
then,  that  you  consider  the  swine  the  model  of  the 
German  race?  " 

"  Only  of  the  lower  classes,"  said  the  aged  his- 
torian, "  but  not  the  House  of  Hohenzollern.  We 
are  exalted  above  the  necessities  of  breeding,  for  we 
are  divine." 

Eyes  were  now  turned  upon  me,  for  I  was  the  only 
one  of  the  company  not  of  Hohenzollern  blood. 
Unrelieved  by  laughter  the  situation  was  painful. 

"  But,"  said  Count  Rudolph,  coming  to  riy  rescue, 
u  we  also  seek  safety  '  \  the  fortified  piggeries." 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     283 

"  Exactly,"  said  the  Historian;  "  so  did  our  noble 
ancestor." 


From  the  piggeries,  we  went  to  the  green  level 
where,  growing  beneath  eye-paining  lights,  was  a 
matted  mass  of  solid  vegetation  from  which  came 
those  rare  sprigs  of  green  which  garnished  our  syn- 
thetic dishes.  But  this  was  too  monotonous  to  be 
interesting  and  we  soon  went  above  to  the  Defence 
Level  where  were  housea  vast  military  and  rebuild- 
ing mechanisms  and  stores.  After  our  guides  had 
shown  us  briefly  about  among  these  paraphernalia, 
we  were  conducted  to  one  of  the  sloping  ramps  which 
led  through  a  heavily  arched  tunnel  to  the  roof  above. 

Marguerite  clung  close  to  my  arm,  quivering  with 
expectancy  and  excitement,  as  we  climbed  up  the 
sloping  passageway  and  felt  on  our  faces  the  breath 
of  the  crisp  air  of  the  May  night. 

The  sky  came  into  vision  with  startling  sudden- 
ness as  we  walked  out  upon  the  .soft  sand  blanket  of 
the  roof.  The  night  was  absoHtely  clear  and  my 
first  impression  was  that  every  s'ar  of  the  heavens 
had  miraculously  waxed  in  brilliancy.  The  moon, 
in  the  last  quarter,  hung  midway  between  the  zenith 
and  the  western  horizon.  The  milky  way  seemed  a 
floating  band  of  whitish  flame.  About  us,  in  the 
form  of  a  wide  crescent,  for  we  were  near  the  east- 
ern edge  of  the  city,  swung  the  encircling  band  of 
searchlights,  but  the  air  was  so  clear  that  this  stock- 


284         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

ade  of  artificial  light  beams  was  too  pale  to  dim 
the  points  of  light  in  the  blue-black  vault. 

In  anticipating  this  visit  to  the  roof  I  had  sup- 
posed it  would  seem  commonplace  to  me,  and  had 
discussed  it  very  little  with  Marguerite,  lest  I  might 
reveal  an  undue  lack  of  wonder.  But  now  as  I 
thrilled  once  more  beneath  their  holy  light,  the  mir- 
acle of  unnumbered  far-flung  flaming  suns  stifled 
again  the  vanity  of  human  conceit  and  I  stood  with 
soul  unbared  and  worshipful  beneath  the  vista  of 
incommensurate  space  wherein  the  birth  and  death 
of  worlds  marks  the  unending  roll  of  time.  And  at 
my  side  a  silent  gazing  woman  stood,  contrite  and 
humble  and  the  thrill  and  quiver  of  her  body  filled 
me  with  a  joy  of  wordless  delight. 

A  blundering  guide  began  lecturing  on  astronomy 
and  pointing  out  with  pompous  gestures  the  constel- 
lations and  planets.  But  Marguerite  led  me  beyond 
the  sound  of  his  voice.  "  It  is  not  the  time  for  lis- 
tening to  talk,"  she  said.      "  I  only  want  to  see." 

When  the  astronomer  had  finished  his  speech-mak- 
ing, our  party  moved  slowly  toward  the  East,  where 
we  could  just  discern  the  first  faint  light  of  the  com- 
ing dawn.  When  we  reached  the  parapet  of  the 
eastern  edge  of  the  city's  roof,  the  stars  had  faded 
and  pale  pink  streaked  the  eastern  sky.  The  guides 
brought  folding  chairs  from  a  nearby  tunnel  way  and 
most  of  the  party  sat  down  on  a  hillock  of  sand, 
very  much  as  men  might  seat  themselves  in  the 
grandstand  of  a  race  course.  But  I  was  so  inter- 
ested in  what  the  dawn  would  reveal  beneath  the 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM    285 

changing  colours  of  the  sky,  that  I  led  Marguerite 
to  the  rail  of  the  parapet  where  we  could  look  down 
into  the  yawning  depths  upon  the  surface  of  Ger- 
man soil. 

My  first  vision  over  the  parapet  revealed  but  a 
mottled  grey.  But  as  the  light  brightened  the  grey 
land  took  form,  and  I  discerned  a  few  scraggly 
patches  of  green  between  the  torn  masses  of  dis- 
torted soil. 

The  stars  had  faded  now  and  only  the  pale  moon 
remained  in  the  bluing  sky,  while  below  the  land 
disclosed  a  sad  monotony  of  ruin  and  waste,  utterly 
devoid  of  any  constructive  work  of  man. 

Marguerite,  her  gaze  fixed  on  the  dawn,  was  be- 
ginning to  complain  of  the  light  paining  her  eyes, 
when  one  of  the  guides  hurried  by  with  an  open 
satchel  swung  from  his  shoulders.  "  Here  are  your 
glasses,"  he  said;  "  put  them  on  at  once.  You  must 
be  very  careful  now,  or  you  will  injure  your  eyes." 

We  accepted  the  darkened  protecting  lenses,  but 
I  found  I  did  not  need  mine  until  the  sun  itself  had 
appeared  above  the  horizon. 

"  Did  you  see  it  so  in  your  vision?"  questioned 
Marguerite,  as  the  first  beams  glistened  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  sanded  roof. 

"  This,"  I  replied,  "  is  a  very  ordinary  sunrise 
with  a  perfectly  cloudless  sky.  Some  day,  perhaps, 
when  the  gates  of  this  prison  of  Berlin  are  opened, 
we  will  be  able  to  see  all  the  sunrises  of  my  visions, 
and  even  more  wonderful  ones." 

"  Karl,"  she  whispered,  "  how  do  you  know  of  all 


286         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

these  things?  Sometimes  I  believe  you  are  some- 
thing more  than  human,  that  you  of  a  truth  possess 
the  blood  of  divinity  which  the  House  of  Hohen- 
zollern  claims." 

"  No,"  I  answered;  "not  diivnity, —  just  a  little 
larger  humanity,  and  some  day  very  soon  I  am  going 
to  tell  you  more  of  the  source  of  my  visions." 

She  looked  at  me  through  her  darkened  glasses. 
'  I  only  know,"  she  said,  "  that  you  are  wonderful, 
and  very  different  from  other  men." 

Had  we  been  alone  on  the  roof  of  Berlin,  I  could 
not  have  resisted  the  temptation  to  tell  her  then 
that  stars  and  sun  were  familiar  friends  to  me  and 
that  the  devastated  soil  that  stretched  beneath  us 
was  but  the  wasted  skeleton  of  a  fairer  earth  I 
knew  and  loved.  But  we  were  surrounded  by  a  host 
of  babbling  sightseers  and  so  the  moment  passed  and 
I  remained  to  Marguerite  a  man  of  mystery  and  a 
seer  of  visions. 

The  sun  fully  risen  now,  we  were  led  to  a  pro- 
truding observation  platform  that  permitted  us  to 
view  the  wall  of  the  city  below.  It  was  merely  one 
vast  grey  wall  without  interruption  or  opening  in  the 
monotonous  surface. 

Amid  the  more  troubled  chaos  of  the  ground  im- 
mediately below  we  could  see  fragments  of  concrete 
blown  from  the  parapet  of  the  roof.  The  wall  be- 
neath us,  we  were  told,  was  only  of  sufficient  thick- 
ness to  withstand  fire  of  the  aircraft  guns.  The 
havoc  that  might  be  wrought,  should  the  defence 
mines  ever  be  forced  back  and  permit  the  walls  of 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     287 

Berlin  to  come  within  range  of  larger  field  pieces, 
was  easily  imagined.  But  so  long  as  the  Ray  de- 
fence held,  the  massive  fort  of  Berlin  was  quite  im- 
pervious to  attacks  of  the  world  forces  of  land  and 
air  and  the  stalemate  of  war  might  continue  for 
other  centuries. 

With  the  coming  of  daylight  we  had  heard  the 
rumbling  of  trucks  as  the  roof  repairing  force 
emerged  to  their  task.  Now  that  our  party  had  be- 
come tired  of  gazing  through  their  goggles  at  the 
sun,  our  guides  led  us  in  the  direction  where  this 
work  was  in  progress.  On  the  way  we  passed  a 
single  unfilled  crater,  a  deep  pit  in  the  flinty  quartz 
sand  that  spread  a  protecting  blanket  over  the  solid 
structure  of  the  roof.  These  craters  in  the  sand 
proved  quite  harmless  except  for  the  labour  involved 
in  their  refilling.  Further  on  we  came  to  another, 
now  half-filled  from  a  spouting  pipe  with  ground 
quartz  blown  from  some  remote  subterranean  mine, 
so  to  keep  up  the  wastage  from  wind  and  bombing. 

Again  we  approached  the  edge  of  the  city  and  this 
time  found  more  of  interest,  for  here  an  addition  to 
the  city  was  under  construction.  It  was  but  a  single 
prrm,  not  a  hundred  metres  across,  which  when 
completed  would  add  but  another  block  to  the  city's 
area.  Already  the  outer  pillars  reached  the  full 
height  and  supported  the  temporary  roof  that  of- 
fered at  least  a  partial  protection  to  the  work  in 
progress  beneath.  Though  I  watched  but  a  few 
minutes  I  was  awed  with  the  evident  rapidity  of 
the  br.ilding.     Dimly  I  could  see  the  forms  below 


288         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

being  swung  into  place  with  a  clock-like  regularity 
and  from  numerous  spouts  great  streams  of  concrete 
poured  like  flowing  lava. 

It  is  at  these  building  sections  that  the  bombs  were 
aimed  and  here  alone  that  any  effectual  damage  could 
be  done,  but  the  target  was  a  small  one  for  a  plane 
flying  above  the  reach  of  the  German  guns.  The 
officer  who  guided  our  group  explained  this  to  us: 
these  bombing  raids  were  conducted  only  at  times 
of  particular  cloud  formations,  when  the  veil  of  mist 
hung  thick  and  low  in  an  even  stratum  above  which 
the  air  was  clear.  When  such  formation  threatened, 
the  roof  of  Berlin  was  cleared  and  the  expected 
bombs  fell  and  spent  their  fury  blowing  up  the  sand. 
It  had  been  a  futile  warfare,  for  the  means  of  de- 
fence were  equal  to  the  means  of  offence. 

Our  visit  to  the  roof  of  Berlin  was  cut  short  as 
the  sun  rose  higher,  because  the  women,  though  they 
had  donned  gloves  and  veils,  were  fearful  of  sun- 
burn. So  we  were  led  back  to  the  covered  ramp 
into  the  endless  night  of  the  city. 

"Have  we  seen  it  all?"  sighed  Marguerite,  as 
she  removed  her  veil  and  glasses  and  gazed  back 
blinkingly  into  the  last  light  of  day. 

"Hardly,"  I  said;  "we  have  not  seen  a  cloud, 
nor  a  drop  of  rain  nor  a  flake  of  snow,  nor  a  flash 
of  lightning,  nor  heard  a  peal  of  thunder." 

Again  she  looked  at  me  with  worshipful  adora- 
tion. "  I  forget,"  she  whispered;  "  and  can  you  vi- 
sion those  things  also?" 

But  I  only  smiled  and  did  not  answer,  for  I  saw 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     289 

Admiral  von  Kufner  glaring  at  me.  I  had  monop- 
olized Marguerite's  company  for  the  entire  occa- 
sion, and  I  was  well  aware  that  his  only  reason  for 
arranging  this,  to  him  a  meaningless  excursion,  had 
been  in  the  hopes  of  being  with  her. 

5 

But  Admiral  von  Kufner,  contending  fairly  for 
that  share  of  Marguerite's  time  which  she  deigned 
to  grant  him,  seemed  to  bear  me  no  malice;  and,  as 
the  months  slipped  by,  I  was  gratified  to  find  him 
becoming  more  cordial  toward  me.  We  frequently 
met  at  the  informal  gatherings  in  the  salon  of  the 
Countess  Luise.  More  rarely  Dr.  Zimmern  came 
there  also,  for  by  virtue  of  his  office  he  was  per- 
mitted the  social  rights  of  the  Royal  Level.  I  sur- 
mised, however,  that  this  privilege,  in  his  case,  had 
not  included  the  right  to  marry  on  the  level,  for 
though  the  head  of  the  Eugenic  Staff,  he  had,  so  far 
as  I  could  learn,  neither  wife  nor  children. 

But  Dr.  Zimmern  did  not  seem  to  relish  royal  so- 
ciety, for  when  he  chanced  to  be  caught  with  me 
among  the  members  of  the  Royal  House  the  flow 
of  his  brilliant  conversations  was  checked  like  a 
spring  in  a  drought,  and  he  usually  took  his  depar- 
ture as  soon  as  it  was  seemly. 

On  one  of  these  occasions  Admiral  von  Kufner 
came  in  as  Zimmern  sat  chatting  over  cups  and  in- 
cense with  Marguerite  and  me,  and  the  Countess  and 
her  son.  The  doctor  dropped  quietly  out  of  the  con- 
versation, and  for  a  time  the  youthful  Count  Ulrich 


290         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

entertained  us  with  a  technical  elaboration  of  the 
importance  of  the  love  passion  as  the  dominant  ap- 
peal of  the  picture.  Then  the  Countess  broke  in 
with  a  spirited  exposition  of  the  relation  of  soul  har- 
mony to  ardent  passion. 

Admiral  von  Kufner  listened  with  ill-disguised  im- 
patience. "  But  all  this  erotic  passion,"  he  inter- 
rupted, "  will  soon  again  be  swept  away  by  the  re- 
vival of  the  greater  race  passion  for  world  rule." 

"  My  dear  Admiral,"  said  the  Countess  Luise, 
"  your  ideas  of  race  passion  are  quite  proper  for  the 
classes  who  must  be  denied  the  free  play  of  the  love 
element  in  their  psychic  life,  but  your  notion  of  in- 
troducing these  ideas  into  the  life  of  the  Royal  Level 
is  wholly  antiquated." 

"  It  is  you  who  are  antiquated,"  returned  the  Ad- 
miral, "  for  now  the  day  is  at  hand  when  we  shall 
again  taste  of  danger.     His  Majesty  has — " 

"  Of  course  His  Majesty  has  told  us  that  the  day 
is  at  hand,"  interrupted  the  Countess.  "  Has  not 
His  Majesty  always  preserved  this  allegorical  fable? 
It  is  part  of  the  formal  kultur." 

"  But  His  Majesty  now  speaks  the  truth,"  replied 
the  Admiral  gravely,  "  and  I  say  to  you  who  are  so 
absorbed  with  the  light  passions  of  art  and  love 
that  we  shall  not  only  taste  of  danger  but  will  fight 
again  in  the  sea  and  air  and  on  the  ground  in  the 
outer  world.     We  shall  conquer  and  rule  the  world." 

"  And  do  you  think,  Admiral,"  inquired  Mar- 
guerite, "  that  the  German  people  will  then  be  free 
in  the  outer  world?  " 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     291 

"  They  will  be  free  to  rule  the  outer  world,"  re- 
plied the  Admiral. 

"  But  I  mean,"  said  Marguerite  calmly,  "  to  ask 
if  they  will  be  free  again  to  love  and  marry  and  rear 
their  own  children." 

At  this  naive  question  the  others  exchanged  sig- 
nificant glances. 

"  My  dear  child,"  said  the  Countess,  blushing  with 
embarrassment,  "  your  defective  training  makes  it 
extremely  difficult  for  you  to  understand  these 
things." 

"  Of  course  it  is  all  forbidden,"  spoke  up  the 
young  Count,  "  but  now,  if  it  were  not,  the  Princess 
Marguerite's  unique  idea  would  certainly  make  cap- 
ital picture  material." 

"  How  clever!  "  cried  the  Countess,  beaming  on 
her  intellectual  son.  "  Nothing  is  forbidden  for  plot 
material  for  the  Royal  Level.  You  shall  make  a 
picture  showing  those  great  beasts  of  labour  again 
liberated  for  unrestricted  love." 

"  There  is  one  difficulty,"  Count  Rudolph  consid- 
ered. "How  could  we  get  actors  for  the  parts? 
Our  thoroughbred  actors  are  all  too  light  of  bone, 
too  delicate  of  motion,  and  our  actresses  bred  for 
dainty  beauty  would  hardly  caste  well  for  those  great 
hulking  round-faced  labour  mothers." 

"  Then,"  remarked  the  Admiral,  "  if  you  must 
make  picture  plays  why  not  one  of  the  mating  of 
German  soldiers  with  the  women  of  the  inferior 
races?  " 

"  Wonderful!  "  exclaimed  the  plot  maker;  "  and 


292         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

practical  also.  Our  actresses  are  the  exact  counter- 
part of  those  passionate  French  beauties.  I  often 
study  their  portraits  in  the  old  galleries.  They  have 
had  no  Eugenics,  hence  they  would  be  unchanged. 
Is  it  not  so,  Doctor?  " 

"  Without  Eugenics,  a  race  changes  with  exceed- 
ing slowness,"  answered  Zimmern  in  a  voice  devoid 
of  expression.  "  I  should  say  that  the  French 
women  of  today  would  much  resemble  their  ances- 
tral types." 

"  But  picturing  such  matings  of  military  necessity 
would  be  very  disgusting,"  reprimanded  the  Coun- 
tess. 

"  It  will  be  a  very  necessary  part  of  the  coming 
day  of  German  dominion,"  stated  the  Admiral. 
"  How  else  can  we  expect  to  rule  the  world?  It  is, 
indeed,  part  of  the  ordained  plan." 

"  But  how,"  I  questioned,  "  is  such  a  plan  to  be 
executed?  Would  the  men  of  the  World  State  tol- 
erate it?  " 

"  We  will  oblige  them  to  tolerate  it;  the  children 
of  the  next  generation  of  the  inferior  races  must  be 
born  of  German  sires." 

"  But  the  Germans  are  outnumbered  ten  to  one," 
I  replied., 

"  Polygamy  will  take  care  of  that,  among  the 
white  races;  the  coloured  races  must  be  eliminated. 
All  breeding  of  the  coloured  races  must  cease. 
That,  also,  is  part  of  the  ordained  plan." 

The  conversation  was  getting  on  rather  dangerous 
ground  for  me  as  I  realized  that  I  dare  not  show 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     293 

too  great  surprise  at  this  talk,  which  of  all  things 
I  had  heard  in  Germany  was  the  most  preposterous. 

But  Marguerite  made  no  effort  to  disguise  her 
astonishment.  "  I  thought,"  she  said,  "  that  the 
German  rule  of  the  world  was  only  a  plan  for  mili- 
tary victory  and  the  conquering  of  the  World  Gov- 
ernment. I  supposed  the  people  would  be  left  free 
to  live  their  personal  lives  as  they  desired." 

"  That  was  the  old  idea,"  replied  the  Admiral, 
"  in  the  days  of  open  war,  before  the  possibilities  of 
eugenic  science  were  fully  realized.  But  the  or- 
dained plan  revealed  to  His  Majesty  requires  not 
only  the  military  and  political  rule  by  the  Germans, 
but  the  biologic  conquest  of  the  inferior  races  by 
German  blood." 

"  I  think  our  German  system  of  scientific  breed- 
ing is  very  brutal,"  spoke  up  Marguerite  with  an 
intensity  of  feeling  quite  out  of  keeping  with  the 
calloused  manner  in  which  the  older  members  of  the 
Royal  House  discussed  the  subject. 

The  Admiral  turned  to  her  with  a  gracious  air. 
"  My  lovely  maiden,"  he  said,  "  your  youth  quite 
excuses  your  idealistic  sentiments.  You  need  only  to 
remember  that  you  are  a  daughter  of  the  House  of 
Hohenzollern.  The  women  of  this  House  are  priv- 
ileged always  to  cultivate  and  cherish  the  beautiful 
sentiments  of  romantic  love  and  individual  mater- 
nity. The  protected  seclusion  of  the  Royal  Level 
exists  that  such  love  may  bloom  untarnished  by  the 
grosser  affairs  of  world  necessity.  It  was  so  or- 
dained." 


294         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

"  It  was  so  ordained  by  men,"  replied  Marguerite 
defiantly,  "  and  what  are  these  privileges  while  the 
German  women  are  prostituted  on  the  Free  Level 
or  forced  to  bear  children  only  to  lose  them  —  and 
while  you  plan  to  enforce  other  women  of  the  world 
into  polygamous  union  with  a  conquering  race?" 

"  My  dear  child,"  said  the  Countess,  "  you  must 
not  speak  in  this  wild  fashion.  We  women  of  the 
Royal  House  must  fully  realize  our  privileges  — 
and  as  for  the  Admiral's  wonderful  tale  of  world 
conquest  —  that  is  only  his  latest  hobby.  It  is 
talked,  of  course,  in  military  circles,  but  the  defen- 
sive war  is  so  dull,  you  know,  especially  for  the  Royal 
officers,  that  they  must  have  something  to  occupy 
their  minds." 

11  When  the  day  arrives,"  snapped  the  Admiral, 
"  you  will  find  the  Royal  officers  leading  the  Ger- 
mans to  victory  like  Atilla  and  William  the  Great 
himself." 

"  Then  why,"  twitted  the  Countess,  "  do  you  not 
board  one  of  your  submarines  and  go  forth  to  battle 
in  the  sea?  " 

"  I  am  not  courting  unnecessary  danger,"  retorted 
the  Admiral;  "but  I  am  not  dead  to  the  realities 
of  war.  My  apartments  are  directly  connected  with 
the  roof." 

"  So  you  can  hear  the  bomb  explosions,"  suggested 
the  Countess. 

"And  why  not?"  snapped  the  Admiral;  "we 
must  prepare  for  danger." 

"  But  you  have  not  been  bred  for  danger,"  scoffed 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     295 

the  Countess.  "  Perhaps  you  would  do  well  to  have 
your  reactions  to  fear  tested  out  in  the  psychic  lab- 
oratories; if  you  should  pass  the  test  you  might  be 
elected  as  a  father  of  soldiers;  it  would  surely  set 
a  good  example  to  our  impecunious  Hohenzollern 
bachelors  for  whom  there  are  no  wives." 

The  young  Count  evidently  did  not  comprehend 
his  mother's  spirit  of  raillery.  "  Has  that  not  been 
tried?"  he  asked,  turning  toward  Dr.  Zimmern. 

"  It  has,"  stated  the  Eugenist,  "  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years  ago.  There  was  once  an  entire  regi- 
ment of  such  Hohc-zollern  soldiers  in  the  Bavarian 
mines." 

"  And  how  did  they  turn  out?  "  I  asked,  my  curi- 
osity tempting  me  into  indiscretion. 

"  They  mutinied  and  murdered  their  officers  and 
then  held  an  election — "  Zimmern  paused  and  I 
caught  his  eye  which  seemed  to  say,  "  We  have  gone 
too  far  with  this." 

"Yes,  and  what  happened?"  queried  the  Coun- 
tess. 

"  They  all  voted  for  themselves  as  Colonel,"  re- 
plied the  Doctor  drily. 

At  this  I  looked  for  an  outburst  of  indignation 
from  the  orthodox  Admiral,  but  instead  he  seemed 
greatly  elated.  "  Of  course,"  he  enthused;  "the 
blood  breeds  true.  It  verily  has  the  quality  of  true 
divinity.  No  wonder  we  supermen  repudiated  that 
spineless  conception  of  the  soft  Christian  God  and 
the  servile  Jewish  Jesus." 

"  But  Jesus  was  not  a  coward,"  spoke  up  Mar- 


296         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

guerite.  "  I  have  read  the  story  of  his  life ;  it  is 
very  wonderful;  he  was  a  brave  man,  who  met  his 
death  unflinchingly." 

"  But  where  did  you  read  it?  "  asked  the  Coun- 
tess. "  It  must  be  very  new.  I  try  to  keep  up  on 
the  late  novels  but  I  never  heard  of  this  '  Story  of 
Jesus.'  " 

"  What  you  say  is  true,"  said  the  Admiral,  turn- 
ing to  Marguerite,  "  but  since  you  like  to  read  so 
well,  you  should  get  Prof.  Ohlenslagger's  book  and 
learn  the  explanation  of  the  fact  that  you  have  just 
stated.  We  have  long  known  that  all  those  great 
men  whom  the  inferior  races  claim  as  their  geniuses 
are  of  truth  of  German  blood,  and  that  the  fighting 
quality  of  the  outer  races  is  due  to  the  German 
blood  that  was  scattered  by  our  early  emigrations. 

"  But  the  distinctive  contribution  that  Prof.  Oh- 
lenslagger  makes  to  these  long  established  facts  is 
in  regard  to  the  parentage  of  this  man  Jesus.  In  the 
Jewish  accounts,  which  the  Christians  accepted,  the 
truth  was  crudely  covered  up  with  a  most  unscien- 
tific fable,  which  credited  the  paternity  of  Jesus  to 
miraculous  interference  with  the  laws  of  nature. 

"  But  now  the  truth  comes  out  by  Prof.  Ohlen- 
slagger's erudite  reasoning.  This  unknown  father 
of  Jesus  was  an  adventurer  from  Central  Asia,  a 
man  of  Teutonic  blood.  On  no  other  conception 
can  the  mixed  elements  in  the  character  of  Jesus  be 
explained.  His  was  the  case  of  a  dual  personality 
of  conflicting  inheritance.  One  day  he  would  say: 
'  Lay  up  for  yourself  treasures  ' —  that  was  the  Jew- 


THE  DESCENDANTS  OF  WILLIAM     297 

ish  blood  speaking.  The  next  day  he  would  say: 
'  I  come  to  bring  a  sword  i-s-  that  was  the  noble  Ger- 
man blood  of  a  Teutonic  ancestor.  It  is  logical,  it 
must  be  true,  for  it  was  reasoned  out  by  one  of  our 
most  rational  professors." 

The  Countess  yawned;  Marguerite  sat  silent  with 
troubled  brows;  Dr.  Ludwig  Zimmern  gazed  ab- 
stractedly toward  the  cold  electric  imitation  of  a  fire, 
above  which  on  a  mantle  stood  two  casts,  diminutive 
reproductions  of  the  figures  beside  the  door  of  the 
Emperor's  palace,  the  one  the  likeness  of  William 
the  Great,  the  other  the  Statue  of  the  German  God. 
But  I  was  thinking  of  the  news  I  had  heard  that 
afternoon  from  my  Ore  Chief  —  that  Captain  Grau- 
ble's  vessel  had  returned  to  Berlin. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

IN  WHICH  A  WOMAN  ACCUSES  ME  OF  MURDER  AND 

I  PLACE  A  RUBY  NECKLACE  ABOUT  HER 

THROAT 


ANXIOUS  to  renew  my  acquaintance  with 
Captain  Grauble  at  the  earliest  opportunity, 
I  sent  my  social  secretary  to  invite  him  to 
meet  me  for  a  dinner  engagement  in  one  of  the  pop- 
ular halls  of  the  Free  Level. 

When  I  reached  the  dining  hall  I  found  Cap- 
tain Grauble  awaiting  me.  But  he  was  not  alone. 
Seated  with  him  were  two  girls  and  so  strange  a 
picture  of  contrast  I  had  never  seen.  The  girl  on 
his  right  was  an  extreme  example  of  the  prevailing 
blonde  type.  Her  pinkish  white  skin  seemed  trans- 
parent, her  eyes  were  the  palest  blue  and  her  hair 
was  bright  yet  pale  gold.  About  her  neck  was  a 
chain  of  blue  stones  linked  with  platinum.  She  was 
dressed  in  a  mottled  gown  of  light  blue  and  gold, 
and  so  subtly  blended  were  the  colours  that  she  and 
her  gown  seemed  to  be  part  of  the  same  created 
thing.  But  on  Grauble's  left  sat  a  woman  whose 
gown  was  flashing  crimson  slashed  with  jetty  black. 
Her  skin  was  white  with  a  positive  whiteness  of  rare 
marble  and  her  cheeks  and  lips  flamed  with  blood's 
own  red.     The  sheen  of  her  hair  was  that  of  a 

298 


I  AM  ACCUSED  OF  MURDER      299 

raven's  wing,  and  her  eyes  scintillated  with  the  black- 
ness of  polished  jade. 

The  pale  girl,  whom  Grauble  introduced  as  Elsa, 
languidly  reached  up  her  pink  fingers  for  me  to  kiss 
and  then  sank  back,  eyeing  me  with  mild  curiosity. 
But  as  I  now  turned  to  be  presented  to  the  other,  I 
saw  the  black-eyed  beauty  shrink  and  cower  in  an 
uncanny  terror.  Grauble  again  repeated  my  name 
and  then  the  name  of  the  girl,  and  I,  too,  started  in 
fear,  for  the  name  he  pronounced  was  "  Katrina  " 
and  there  flashed  before  my  vision  the  page  from  the 
diary  that  I  had  first  read  in  the  dank  chamber  of 
the  potash  mine.  In  my  memory's  vision  the  words 
flamed  and  shouted:  "  In  no  other  woman  have  I 
seen  such  a  blackness  of  hair  and  eyes,  combined 
with  such  a  whiteness  of  skin." 

The  girl  before  me  gave  no  sign  of  recognition, 
but  only  gripped  the  table  and  pierced  me  with  the 
stare  of  her  beady  eyes.  Nervously  I  sank  into  a 
seat.  Grauble,  standing  over  the  girl,  looked  down 
at  her  in  angry  amazement.  "  What  ails  you?  "  he 
said  roughly,  shaking  her  by  the  shoulder. 

But  the  girl  did  not  answer  him  and  annoyed  and 
bewildered,  he  sat  down.  For  some  moments  no 
one  spoke,  and  even  the  pale  Elsa  leaned  forward 
and  seemed  to  quiver  with  excitement. 

Then  the  girl,  Katrina,  slowly  rose  from  her 
chair.  "Who  are  you?"  she  demanded,  in  a 
hoarse,  guttural  voice,  still  gazing  at  me  with  terri- 
fied eyes. 

I  did  not  answer,  and  Grauble  again  reached  over 


3oo         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

and  gripped  the  girl's  arm.  "  I  told  you  who  he 
was,"  he  said.  "  He  is  Herr  Karl  von  Armstadt 
of  the  Chemical  Staff." 

But  the  girl  did  not  sit  down  and  continued  to 
stare  at  me.  Then  she  raised  a  trembling  hand  and, 
pointing  an  accusing  finger  at  me,  she  cried  in  a 
piercing  voice : 

"  You  are  not  Karl  Armstadt,  but  an  impostor 
posing  as  Karl  Armstadt!  " 

We  were  located  in  a  well-filled  dancing  cafe,  and 
the  tragic  voice  of  the  accuser  brought  a  crowd  of 
curious  people  about  our  table.  Captain  Grauble 
waved  them  back.  As  they  pushed  forward  again, 
a  street  guard  elbowed  in,  brandishing  his  aluminum 
club  and  asking  the  cause  of  the  commotion.  The 
bystanders  indicated  Katrina  and  the  guard,  edging 
up,  gripped  her  arm  and  demanded  an  explanation. 

Katrina  repeated  her  accusation. 

"  Evidently,"  suggested  Grauble,  "  she  has  known 
another  man  of  the  same  name,  and  meeting  Herr 
von  Armstadt  has  recalled  some  tragic  memory." 

"  Perhaps,"  said  the  guard  politely,  "  if  the  gen- 
tleman would  show  the  young  lady  his  identification 
folder,  she  would  be  convinced  of  her  error." 

For  a  moment  I  hesitated,  realizing  full  well  what 
an  inquiry  might  reveal. 

11  No,"  I  said,  "  I  do  not  feel  that  it  is  necessary." 

"  He  is  afraid  to  show  it,"  screamed  the  girl.  "  I 
tell  you  he  is  trying  to  pass  for  Armstadt  but  he  is 
some  one  else.     He  looks  like  Karl  Armstadt  and 


I  AM  ACCUSED  OF  MURDER     301 

at  first  I  thought  he  was  Karl  Armstadt,  but  I  know 
he  is  not." 

I  looked  swiftly  at  the  surrounding  faces,  and  saw 
upon  them  suspicion  and  accusation.  "  There  may- 
be something  wrong,"  said  a  man  in  a  military  uni- 
form, "  otherwise  why  should  the  gentleman  of  the 
staff  hesitate  to  show  his  folder?  " 

"  Very  well,"  I  said,  pulling  out  my  folder. 

The  guard  glanced  at  it.  "  It  seems  to  be  all 
right,"  he  said,  addressing  the  group  about  the  ta- 
ble; "now  will  you  kindly  resume  your  seats  and 
not  embarrass  these  gentlemen  with  your  idle  curi- 
osity? " 

"  Let  me  see  the  folder!  "  cried  Katrina. 

"  Pardon,"  said  the  guard  to  me,  "  but  I  see  no 
harm,"  and  he  handed  her  the  folder. 

She  glanced  over  it  with  feverish  haste. 

"Are  you  satisfied  now?  "  questioned  the  guard. 

"Yes,"  hissed  the  black-eyed  girl;  "I  am  satis- 
fied that  this  is  Karl  Armstadt's  folder.  I  know 
every  word  of  it,  but  I  tell  you  that  the  man  who 
carries  it  now  is  not  the  real  Karl  Armstadt."  And 
then  she  wheeled  upon  me  and  screamed,  "  You  are 
not  Karl  Armstadt.  Karl  Armstadt  is  dead,  and 
you  have  murdered  him  !  " 

In  an  instant  the  cafe  was  in  an  uproar.  Men  in 
a  hundred  types  of  uniform  crowded  forward;  small 
women,  rainbow-garbed,  stood  on  the  chairs  and 
peered  over  taller  heads  of  ponderous  sisters  of  the 
labour  caste.     Grauble  again  waved  back  the  crowd 


302         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

and  the  guard  brandished  his  club  threateningly  to- 
ward some  of  the  more  inquisitive  daughters  of  la- 
bour. 

When  the  crowd  had  fallen  back  to  a  more  re- 
spectful distance,  the  guard  recovered  my  identifi- 
cation folder  from  Katrina  and  returned  it  to  me. 
"  Perhaps,"  he  said,  "  you  have  known  the  young 
lady  and  do  not  again  care  to  renew  the  acquaint- 
ance? If  so,  with  your  permission,  I  shall  take  her 
where  she  will  not  trouble  you  again  this  evening." 

"  That  may  be  best,"  I  replied,  wondering  how  I 
could  explain  the  affair  to  Captain  Grauble. 

"  The  incident  is  most  unfortunate,"  said  the  Cap- 
tain, evidently  a  little  nettled,  "  but  I  think  this  rude 
force  unnecessary.  I  know  Katrina  well,  but  I  did 
not  know  she  had  previously  known  Herr  von  Arm- 
stadt.  This  being  the  case,  and  he  seeming  not  to 
wish  to  renew  the  acquaintance,  I  suggest  that  she 
leave  of  her  own  accord." 

But  Katrina  was  not  to  be  so  easily  dismissed. 

'  No,"   she   retorted,   "  I   will  not  leave   until   this 

man   tells   me  how  he  came   by  that   identification 

folder  and  what  became  of  the  man  I  loved,  whom 

he  now  represents  himself  to  be." 

At  these  words  the  guard,  who  had  been  about 
to  leave,  turned  back. 

I  glanced  apprehensively  at  Grauble  who,  seeing 
that  I  was  grievously  wrought  up  over  the  affair, 
said  quietly  to  the  officer,  "  You  had  best  take  her 
away." 

Katrina,  with  a  black  look  of  hatred  at  Grauble, 


I  AM  ACCUSED  OF  MURDER      303 

went  without  further  words,  and  the  curious  crowd 
quickly  melted  away.  The  three  of  us  who  re- 
mained at  the  table  resumed  our  seats  and  I  ordered 
dinner. 

"  My,  how  Katrina  frightened  me !  "  exclaimed 
the  fragile  Elsa. 

"  She  does  have  temper,"  admitted  Grauble. 
"  Odd,  though,  that  she  would  conceive  that  idea 
that  you  were  some  one  else.  I  have  heard  of  all 
sorts  of  plans  of  revenge  for  disappointments  in 
love,  but  that  is  a  new  one." 

"You  really  know  her?"  questioned  Elsa,  turn- 
ing her  pale  eyes  upon  me. 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  once  knew  her,"  I  replied,  trying  to 
seem  unconcerned;  "  but  I  did  not  recognize  her  at 
first." 

"  You  mean  you  didn't  care  to,"  smiled  Grauble. 
"  Once  a  man  had  known  that  woman  he  would 
hardly  forget  her." 

"  But  you  must  have  had  a  very  emotional  affair 
with  her,"  said  Elsa,  "  to  make  her  take  on  like  that. 
Do  tell  us  about  it." 

"  I  would  rather  not;  there  are  some  things  one 
wishes  to  forget." 

Grauble  chided  his  dainty  companion  for  her  pry- 
ing curiosity  and  tried  to  turn  the  conversation  into 
less  personal  channels.  But  Elsa's  appetite  for  ro- 
mance had  been  whetted  and  she  kept  reverting  to 
the  subject  while  I  worried  along  trying  to  dismiss 
the  matter.  But  the  ending  of  the  affair  was  not  to 
be  left  in  my  hands;  as  we  were  sitting  about  our 


3o4         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

empty  cups,  we  saw  Katrina  re-enter  the  cafe  in  com- 
pany with  a  high  official  of  the  level  and  the  guard 
who  had  taken  her  away. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  disturb  you,"  said  the  official,  ad- 
dressing me  courteously,  "  but  this  girl  is  very  insist- 
ent in  her  accusation,  and  perhaps,  if  you  will  aid  us 
in  the  matter,  it  may  prevent  her  making  further 
charges  that  might  annoy  you." 

"  And  what  do  you  wish  me  to  do?  " 

"  I  suggest  only  that  you  should  come  to  my  office. 
I  have  telephoned  to  have  the  records  looked  up 
and  that  should  satisfy  all  and  so  end  the  matter." 

"  You  might  come  also,"  added  the  official,  turn- 
ing to  Grauble,  but  he  waved  back  the  curious  Elsa 
who  was  eager  to  follow. 

When  we  reached  his  office  in  the  Place  of  Rec- 
ords, the  official  who  had  brought  us  thither  turned 
to  a  man  at  a  desk.  "  You  have  received  the  data 
on  missing  men?  "  he  inquired. 

The  other  handed  him  a  sheet  of  paper. 

The  official  turned  to  Katrina.  "  Will  you  state 
again,  please,  the  time  that  you  say  the  Karl  Arm- 
stadt  you  knew  disappeared?  " 

Katrina  quite  accurately  named  the  date  at  which 
the  man  whose  identity  I  had  assumed  had  been 
called  to  the  potash  mines. 

"  Very  well,"  said  the  official,  taking  up  the  sheet 
of  paper,  "  here  we  have  the  list  of  missing  men  for 
four  years  compiled  from  the  weighers'  records. 
There  is  not  recorded  here  the  disappearance  of  a 
single  chemist  during  the  whole  period.     If  another 


I  AM  ACCUSED  OF  MURDER      305 

man  than  a  chemist  should  try  to  step  into  a  chem- 
ist's shoes,  he  would  have  a  rather  difficult  time  of 
it."  The  official  laughed  as  if  he  thought  himself 
very  clever. 

"  But  that  man  is  not  Karl  Armstadt,"  cried  Ka- 
trina  in  a  wavering  voice.  "  Do  you  think  I  would 
not  know  him  when  every  night  for  — " 

"  Shut  up,"  said  the  official,  "  and  get  out  of  here, 
and  if  I  hear  anything  more  of  this  matter  I  shall 
subtract  your  credit." 

Katrina,  now  whimpering,  was  led  from  the  room. 
The  official  beamed  upon  Capt.  Grauble  and  myself. 
"  Do  you  see,"  he  said,  "  how  perfectly  our  records 
take  care  of  these  crazy  accusations?  The  black 
haired  one  is  evidently  touched  in  the  head  with 
jealousy,  and  now  that  she  has  chanced  upon  you, 
she  makes  up  this  preposterous  story,  which  might 
cause  you  no  end  of  annoyance,  but  here  we  have  the 
absolute  refutation  of  the  charge.  Before  a  man 
can  step  into  another's  shoes,  he  must  step  out  of  his 
own.  Murdered  bodies  can  be  destroyed,  although 
that  is  difficult,  but  one  man  cannot  be  two  men !  " 

We  left  the  official  chuckling  over  his  cleverness. 

"  The  Keeper  of  Records  was  wise  after  his  kind," 
mused  Grauble,  "  but  it  never  occurred  to  him  that 
there  might  be  chemists  in  the  world  who  are  not 
registered  in  the  card  files  of  Berlin." 

Grauble's  voice  sounded  a  note  of  aloofness  and 
suspicion.  Had  he  penetrated  my  secret?  Did  I 
dare  make  full  confession?  Had  Grauble  given  me 
the  least  encouragement  I  should  have  done  so,  but 


3o6         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

he  seemed  to  wish  to  avoid  further  discussion  and 
I  feared  to  risk  it. 

My  hope  of  a  fuller  understanding  with  Grauble 
seemed  destroyed,  and  we  soon  separated  without 
further  confidences. 


When  I  returned  home  from  my  offices  one  eve- 
ning some  days  later,  my  secretary  announced  that  a 
visitor  was  awaiting  me. 

I  entered  the  reception-room  and  found  Hol- 
knecht,  who  had  been  my  chemical  assistant  in  the 
early  days  of  my  work  in  Berlin.  Holknecht  had 
seemed  to  me  a  servile  fawning  fellow  and  when  I 
received  my  first  promotion  I  had  deserted  him  quite 
brutally  for  the  very  excellent  reason  that  he  had 
known  the  other  Armstadt  and  I  feared  that  his 
dulled  intelligence  might  at  any  time  be  aroused  to 
penetrate  my  disguise.  That  he  should  look  me  up 
in  my  advancement  and  prosperity,  doubtless  to  beg 
some  favour,  seemed  plausible  enough,  and  therefore 
with  an  air  of  condescending  patronage,  I  asked  what 
I  could  do  for  him. 

II  It  is  about  Katrina,"  he  said  haltingly,  as  he  eyed 
me  curiously. 

"Well,  what  about  her?" 
"  She  wants  me  to  bring  you  to  her." 
"  But  suppose  I  do  not  choose  to  go?" 
"  Then  there  may  be  trouble." 
"  She  has  already  tried  to  make  trouble,"  I  said, 
"  but  nothing  came  of  it." 


I  AM  ACCUSED  OF  MURDER      307 

"  But  that,"  said  Holknecht,  "  was  before  she  saw 

me." 

"  And  what  have  you  told  her?  " 

"  I  told  her  about  Armstadt's  going  to  the  mines 
and  you  coming  back  to  the  hospital  wearing  his 
clothes  and  possessed  of  his  folder  and  of  your  be- 
ing out  of  your  memory." 

"  You  mean,"  I  replied,  determined  not  to  ac- 
knowledge his  assumption  of  my  other  identity, 
"  that  you  explained  to  her  how  the  illness  had 
changed  me;  and  did  that  not  make  clear  to  her 
why  she  did  not  recognize  me  at  first?  " 

"  There  is  no  use,"  insisted  Holknecht,  "  of  your 
talking  like  that.  I  never  could  quite  make  up  my 
mind  about  you,  though  I  always  knew  there  was 
something  wrong.  At  first  I  believed  the  doctor's 
story,  and  that  you  were  really  Armstadt,  though 
it  did  seem  like  a  sort  of  magic,  the  way  you  were 
changed.  But  when  you  came  to  the  laboratory  and 
I  saw  you  work,  I  decided  that  you  were  somebody 
else  and  that  the  Chemical  Staff  was  working  on 
some  great  secret  and  had  a  reason  for  putting  some 
one  else  in  Armstadt's  place.  And  now,  of  course, 
I  know  very  well  that  that  was  so,  for  the  other 
Karl  Armstadt  would  never  have  become  a  von  of 
the  Royal  Level.     He  didn't  have  that  much  brains." 

As  Holknecht  was  speaking  I  had  been  thinking 
rapidly.  The  thing  I  feared  was  that  the  affair  of 
the  mine  and  hospital  should  be  investigated  by  some 
one  with  intelligence  and  authority.  Since  Katrina 
had  learned  of  that,  and  this  Holknecht  was  also 


308         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

aware  that  I  was  a  man  of  unknown  identity,  it  was 
very  evident  that  they  might  set  some  serious  inves- 
tigation going.  But  the  man's  own  remarks  sug- 
gested a  way  out. 

"  You  are  quite  right,  Holknecht,"  I  said;  "  I  am 
not  Karl  Armstadt;  and,  just  as  you  have  surmised, 
there  were  grave  reasons  why  I  should  have  been 
put  into  his  place  under  those  peculiar  circumstances. 
But  this  matter  is  a  state  secret  of  the  Chemical 
Staff  and  you  will  do  well  to  say  nothing  about  it. 
Now  is  there  anything  I  can  do  for  you?  A  promo- 
tion, perhaps,  to  a  good  position  in  the  Protium 
Works?" 

"  No,"  said  Holknecht,  "  I  would  rather  stay 
where  I  am,  but  I  could  use  a  little  extra  money." 

"Of  course;  a  check,  perhaps;  a  little  gift  from 
an  old  friend  who  has  risen  to  power;  there  would 
be  no  difficulty  in  that,  would  there?  " 

"  I  think  it  would  go  through  all  right." 

"I  will  make  it  now;  say  five  thousand  marks, 
and  if  nothing  more  is  said  of  this  matter  by  you  or 
Katrina,  there  will  be  another  one  like  it  a  year 
later." 

The  young  man's  eyes  gloated  as  I  wrote  the 
check,  which  he  pocketed  with  greedy  satisfaction. 
"  Now,"  I  said,  "  will  this  end  the  affair  for  the 
present?  " 

"  This  makes  it  all  right  with  me,"  replied  Hol- 
knecht, "  but  what  about  Katrina?  " 

"  But  you  are  to  take  care  of  her.     She  can  only 


I  AM  ACCUSED  OF  MURDER      309 

accept  two  hundred  marks  a  month  and  I  have  given 
you  enough  for  that  four  times  over." 

"  But  she  doesn't  want  money;  she  already  has  a 
full  list." 

"  Then  what  does  she  want?  " 
"Jewels,  of  course;  they  all  want  them;  jewels 
from  the  Royal  Level,  and  she  knows  you  can  get 
them  for  her." 

"  Oh,  I  see.     Well,  what  would  please  her?  " 
"  A  necklace  of  rubies,  the  best  they  have,  one 
that  will  cost  at  least  twenty  thousand  marks." 
"  That's  rather  expensive,  is  it  not?  " 
"  But  her  favourite  lover  disappeared,"    fenced 
Holknecht,  "  and  his  death  was  never  entered  on  the 
records.     It  may  be  the  Chemical  Staff  knows  what 
became  of  him  and  maybe  they  do  not;  whatever 
happened,  you  seem  to  want  it  kept  still,  so  you  had 
best  get  the  necklace." 

After  a  little  further  arguing  that  revealed  noth- 
ing, I  went  to  the  Royal  Level,  and  searching  out  a 
jewelry  shop,  I  purchased  a  necklace  of  very  beauti- 
ful synthetic  rubies,  for  which  I  gave  my  check  for 
twenty  thousand  marks. 

Returning  to  my  apartment,  I  found  Holknecht 
still  waiting.  He  insisted  on  taking  the  necklace  to 
Katrina,  but  I  feared  to  trust  a  man  who  accepted 
bribes  so  shamelessly,  and  decided  to  go  with  him 
and  deliver  it  in  person. 

Sullenly,  Holknecht  led  the  way  to  her  apart- 
ment. 


310         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

Katrina  sensuously  gowned  in  flaming  red  was 
awaiting  the  outcome  of  her  blackmailing  venture. 
She  motioned  me  to  a  chair  near  her,  while  Hol- 
knecht,  utterly  ignored,  sank  obscurely  into  a  corner. 

"  So  you  came,"  said  the  lady  of  black  and  scar- 
let, leaning  back  among  her  pillows  and  gazing  at 
me  through  half  closed  eyes. 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  since  you  have  looked  up  Hol- 
knecht  and  he  has  explained  to  you  the  reason  for 
the  disappearance  of  the  man  you  knew,  I  thought 
best  to  see  you  and  have  an  understanding." 

"  But  that  dumb  fellow  explained  nothing,"  de- 
clared Katrina,  "  except  that  he  told  me  that  Arm- 
stadt  went  to  the  mines  and  you  came  back  and  took 
his  place.  He  wasn't  even  sure  you  were  not  the 
other  Karl  Armstadt  until  I  convinced  him,  and 
then  he  claimed  that  he  had  known  it  all  the  time; 
and  yet  he  had  never  told  it.  Some  men  are  as 
dull  as  books." 

"  On  the  contrary,  Holknecht  is  very  sensible,"  I 
replied.  "  It  is  a  grave  affair  of  state  and  one  that 
it  is  best  not  to  probe  into." 

"  And  just  what  did  become  of  the  other  Arm- 
stadt? "  asked  Katrina,  and  in  her  voice  was  only 
a  curiosity,  with  no  real  concern. 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth,  your  lover  was  killed  in 
the  mine  explosion,"  I  replied,  for  I  thought  it  un- 
wise to  state  that  he  was  still  alive  lest  she  pursue 
her  inquiries  for  him  and  so  make  further  trouble. 

1  That  is  too  bad,"  said  Katrina.  "  You  see, 
when  I  knew  him  he  was  only  a  chemical  captain. 


I  AM  ACCUSED  OF  MURDER      ,311 

And  when  he  deserted  me  I  didn't  really  care  much. 
But  when  the  Royal  Captain  Grauble  asked  me  to 
meet  a  Karl  von  Armstadt  of  the  Chemical  Staff,  at 
first  I  could  not  believe  that  it  was  the  same  man  I 
had  known,  but  I  made  inquiries  and  learned  of  your 
rapid  rise  and  traced  it  back  and  I  thought  you  really 
were  my  old  Karl.  And  when  I  saw  you,  you  seemed 
to  be  he,  but  when  I  looked  again  I  knew  that  you 
were  another  and  I  was  so  disappointed  and  angry 
that  I  lost  control  of  my  temper.  I  am  sorry  I 
made  a  scene,  and  that  official  was  so  stupid  —  as 
if  I  would  not  know  one  man  from  another!  How 
I  should  like  to  tell  him  that  I  knew  more  than  his 
stupid  records." 

"  But  that  is  not  best,"  I  said ;  "  your  former  lover 
is  dead  and  there  are  grave  reasons  why  that  death 
should  not  be  investigated  further — "  The  argu- 
ment was  becoming  a  little  difficult  for  me  and  I 
hastened  to  add:  "Since  you  were  so  discour- 
teously treated  by  the  official,  I  feel  that  I  owe  you 
some  little  token  of  reparation." 

I  now  drew  out  the  necklace  and  held  it  out  to 
the  girl. 

Her  black  eyes  gleamed  with  triumph  at  the  sight 
of  the  bauble.  Greedily  she  grasped  it  and  held  it 
up  between  her  and  the  light,  turning  it  about  and 
watching  the  red  rays  gleaming  through  the  stones. 
"  And  now,"  she  gloated,  "  that  faded  Elsa  will 
cease  to  lord  it  over  me  —  and  to  think  that  another 
Karl  Armstadt  has  brought  me  this  —  why  that 
stingy  fellow  would  never  have  bought  me  a  blue- 


3i2         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

stone  ring,  if  he  had  been  made  the  Emperor's  Min- 
ister." 

Katrina  now  rose  and  preened  before  her  mirror. 
"Won't  you  place  it  round  my  neck?"  she  asked, 
holding  out  the  necklace. 

Nor  daring  to  give  offence,  I  took  the  chain  of 
rubies  and  attempted  to  fasten  it  round  her  neck. 
The  mechanism  of  the  fastening  was  strange  to  me 
and  I  was  some  time  in  getting  the  thing  adjusted. 
Just  as  I  had  succeeded  in  hooking  the  clasp,  I  heard 
a  curdled  oath  and  the  neglected  Holknecht  hurled 
himself  upon  us,  striking  me  on  the  temple  with  one 
fist  and  clutching  at  the  throat  of  the  girl  with  the 
other  hand. 

The  blow  sent  me  reeling  to  the  floor  but  in  an- 
other instant  I  was  up  and  had  collared  him  and 
dragged  him  away. 

"  Damn  you  both,"  he  whimpered;  "  where  do  I 
come  in?  " 

"  Put  him  out,"  said  Katrina,  with  a  glance  of 
disdain  at  the  cowering  man. 

"  I  will  go,"  snarled  Holknecht,  and  he  wrenched 
from  my  grasp  and  darted  toward  the  door.  I  fol- 
lowed, but  he  was  fairly  running  down  the  passage 
and  pursuit  was  too  undignified  a  thing  to  consider. 

"  You  should  have  paid  him,"  said  Katrina,  "  for 
delivering  my  message." 

"  I  have  paid  him,"  I  replied.  "  I  paid  him  very 
well." 

11  I  wonder  if  he  thought,"  she  laughed,  "  that  I 
would  pay  any  attention  to  a  man  of  his  petty  rank. 


I  AM  ACCUSED  OF  MURDER      313 

Why,  I  snubbed  him  unmercifully  years  ago  when 
the  other  Armstadt  had  the  audacity  to  introduce 

me." 

"  Of   course,"   I   replied,    "  he   does   not  under- 
stand." 

And  now,  as  I  resumed  my  seat,  I  began  puzzling 
my  brain  as  to  how  I  could  get  away  without  giving 
offence  to  the  second  member  of  my  pair  of  black- 
mailers. But  a  little  later  I  managed  it,  as  it  has 
been  managed  for  centuries,  by  looking  suddenly  at 
my  watch  and  recalling  a  forgotten  appointment. 
14  You  will  come  again?  "  purred  Katrina. 
44  Of  course,"  I  said,  "  I  must  come  again,  for  you 
are  very  charming,  but  I  am  afraid  it  will  not  be 
for  some  time  as  I  have  very  important  duties  and 
just  at  present  my  leisure  is  exceedingly  limited." 

And  so  I  made  my  escape,  and  hastened  home. 
After  debating  the  question  pro  and  con  I  typed  a 
note  to  Holknecht  in  which  I  assured  him  that  I 
had  not  the  least  interest  in  Katrina.  "  Perhaps," 
I  wrote,  "  when  she  has  tired  a  bit  of  the  necklace, 
she  would  appreciate  something  else.  But  it  would 
not  be  wise  to  hurry  this;  but  if  you  will  call  around 
in  a  month  or  so,  I  think  I  can  arrange  for  you  to 
get  her  something  and  present  it  yourself,  as  I  do 
not  care  to  see  her  again," 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  BLACK  SPOT  IS  ERASED  FROM  THE  MAP  OF  THE 
WORLD  AND  THERE   IS  DANCING  IN  THE  SUN- 
LIGHT ON  THE  ROOF  OF  BERLIN 


THE  relative  ease  with  which  I  had  so  long 
passed  for  the  real  Karl  Armstadt  had 
lulled  me  into  a  feeling  of  security.  But 
now  that  my  disguise  had  been  penetrated,  my  old 
fears  were  renewed.  True,  the  weigher's  records 
had  seemingly  cleared  me,  but  I  knew  that  Grauble 
had  seen  the  weak  spot  in  the  German  logic  of  the 
stupid  official,  who  had  so  lightly  dismissed  Ka- 
trina's  accusations.  Moreover,  I  fancied  that  Grau- 
ble had  guessed  the  full  truth  and  connected  this 
uncertainty  of  my  identity  with  the  seditious  tenor 
of  the  suggestions  I  had  made  to  him.  Even  though 
he  might  be  willing  to  discuss  rebellious  plans  with 
a  German,  could  I  count  on  him  to  consider  the 
treasonable  urging  coming  from  a  man  of  another 
and  an  enemy  race  ? 

So  fearing  either  to  confess  to  him  my  identity 
or  to  proceed  without  confessing,  I  postponed  doing 
anything.  The  sailing  date  of  his  fifth  trip  to  the 
Arctic  was  fast  approaching;  if  I  was  ever  to  board 
a  vessel  leaving  Berlin  I  would  need  von  Kufner's 
permission.     Marguerite  reported  the  growing  cor- 

314 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED        315 

diality  of  the  Admiral.  Although  I  realized  that 
his  infatuation  for  her  was  becoming  rather  serious, 
with  the  confidence  of  an  accepted  lover,  I  never 
imagined  that  he  could  really  come  between  Mar- 
guerite and  myself. 

But  one  evening  when  I  went  to  call  upon  Mar- 
guerite she  was  "  not  at  home."  I  repeated  the  call 
with  the  same  result.  When  I  called  her  up  by  tele- 
phone, her  secretary  bluntly  told  me  that  the  Prin- 
cess Marguerite  did  not  care  to  speak  to  me.  l  I 
hastened  to  write  an  impassioned  note,  pleading  to 
see  her  at  once,  for  the  days  were  passing  and  there 
was  now  but  a  week  before  Grauble's  vessel  was  due 
to  depart. 

In  desperation  I  waited  two  more  days,  and  still 
no  word  came.  My  letters  of  pleading,  like  my 
calls  and  telephone  efforts,  were  still  ignored. 

Then  a  messenger  came  bearing  a  note  from  Ad- 
miral von  Kufner,  asking  me  to  call  upon  him  at 
once. 

„"  I  have  been  considering,"  began  von  Kufner, 
when  I  entered  his  office,  "  the  request  you  made  of 
me  some  time  ago  to  be  permitted  to  go  in  person 
to  make  a  survey  of  the  ore  deposits.  At  first  I 
opposed  this,  as  the  trip  is  dangerous,  but  more 
recently  I  have  reconsidered  the  importance  of  it. 
As  others  are  now  fully  able  to  continue  your  work 
here,  I  can  quite  conceive  that  your  risking  the  trip 
to  the  mines  in  person  would  be  a  very  courageous 
and  noble  sacrifice.  So  I  have  taken  the  matter  up 
with  His  Majesty." 


3i6  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

With  mocking  politeness  von  Kufner  now  handed 
me  a  document  bearing  the  imperial  seal. 

I  held  it  with  a  trembling  hand  as  I  glanced  over 
the  fateful  words  that  commissioned  me  to  go  at 
once  to  the  Arctic. 

My  smouldering  jealousy  of  the  oily  von  Kufner 
now  flamed  into  expression.  "  You  have  done  this 
thing  from  personal  motives, "  I  cried.  "  You  have 
revoked  your  previous  decision  because  you  want  me 
out  of  your  way.  You  know  I  will  be  gone  for  six 
months  at  least.  You  hope  in  your  cowardly  heart 
that  I  will  never  come  back." 

Von  Kufner's  lips  curled.  "  You  see  fit,"  he  an- 
swered, "  to  impugn  my  motives*  in  suggesting  that 
the  order  be  issued,  although  it  is  the  granting  of 
your  own  request.  But  the  commission  you  hold  in 
your  hand  bears  the  Imperial  signature,  and  the  Em- 
peror of  the  Germans  never  revokes  his  orders." 

II  Very  well,"  I  said,  controlling  my  rage,  "  I  will 

2 

Upon  leaving  the  Admiral's  office  my  first  thought 
was  to  go  at  once  to  Marguerite.  Whatever  might 
be  the  nature  of  her  quarrel  with  me  I  was  now  sure 
that  von  Kufner  was  at  the  bottom  of  it,  and  that 
it  was  in  some  way  connected  with  this  sudden  de- 
termination of  his  to  send  me  to  the  Arctic,  hoping 
that  I  would  never  return. 

But  before  I  had  gone  far  I  began  to  consider 
other  matters.     I  was  commissioned  to  leave  Berlin 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED        317 

by  submarine  and  that  too  by  the  vessel  in  command 
of  Captain  Grauble,  whom  I  knew  to  be  nursing 
rebellion  and  mutiny  in  his  heart.  If  deliverance 
from  Berlin  was  ever  to  come,  it  had  come  now. 
To  refuse  to  embrace  it  would  mean  to  lose  for  ever 
this  fortunate  chance  to  escape  from  this  sunless 
Babylon. 

I  would  therefore  go  first  to  Grauble  and  deter- 
mine without  delay  if  he  could  be  relied  on  to  make 
the  attempt  to  reach  the  outer  world.  Once  I  knew 
that,  I  could  go  then  to  Marguerite  with  an  invita- 
tion for  her  to  join  me  in  flight  —  if  such  a  thing 
were  humanly  possible. 

But  recalling  the  men  who  had  done  so  much  to 
fill  me  with  hope  and  faith  in  the  righteousness  of 
my  mission,  I  again  changed  my  plan  and  sought  out 
Dr.  Zimmern  and  Col.  Hellar  and  arranged  for 
them  to  meet  me  that  evening  at  Grauble's  quarters. 

At  the  hour  appointed  I,  who  had  first  arrived  at 
the  apartment,  sat  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  Zim- 
mern. When  he  came,  to  my  surprise  and  bewil- 
dered joy  he  was  not  alone,  for  Marguerite  was  with 
him. 

She  greeted  me  with  distress  and  penitence  in  her 
eyes  and  I  exulted  in  the  belief  that  whatever  her 
quarrei  with  me  might  be  it  meant  no  irretrievable 
loss  of  her  devotion  and  love. 

We  sat  about  the  room,  a  very  solemn  conclave, 
for  I  had  already  informed  Grauble  of  my  commis- 
sion to  go  to  the  Arctic,  and  he  had  sensed  at  once 
the   revolutionary  nature   of  the  meeting.     I   now 


318         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

gave  him  a  brief  statement  of  the  faith  of  the  older 
men,  who  from  the  fulness  of  their  lives  had  reached 
the  belief  that  the  true  patriotism  for  their  race  was 
to  be  expressed  in  an  effort  to  regain  for  the  Ger- 
mans the  citizenship  of  the  world. 

The  young  Captain  gravely  nodded.  "  I  have 
not  lived  so  long,"  he  said,  "  but  my  life  has  been 
bitter  and  full  of  fear.  I  am  not  out  of  sympathy 
with  your  argument,  but  before  we  go  further, M  and 
he  turned  to  Marguerite,  "  may  I  not  ask  why  a 
Princess  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern  is  included 
in  such  a  meeting  as  this?  " 

I  turned  expectantly  to  Zimmern,  who  now  gave 
Grauble  an  account  of  the  tragedy  and  romance  of 
Marguerite's  life. 

'  Very  well,"  said  Grauble;  "  she  has  earned  her 
place  with  us;  now  that  I  understand  her  part,  let 
us  proceed." 

For  some  hours  Hellar  and  Zimmern  explained 
their  reasons  for  believing  the  life  of  the  isolated 
German  race  was  evil  and  defended  their  faith  in 
the  hope  of  salvation  through  an  appeal  to  the  mercy 
and  justice  of  the  World  State. 

"  Of  all  this  I  am  easily  convinced,"  said  Grauble, 
"  for  it  is  but  a  logically  thought-out  conclusion  of 
the  feeling  I  have  nourished  in  my  blind  rebellion. 
I  am  ready  to  go  with  Herr  von  Armstadt  and  sur- 
render my  vessel  to  the  enemy;  but  the  practical 
question  is,  will  our  risk  avail  anything?  What 
hope  can  we  have  that  we  will  even  be  able  to  deliver 
the  message  you  wish  to  send  ?     How  are  we  to 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED        319 

know  that  we  will  not  immediately  be  killed?" 
The  hour  had  come.  "  I  will  answer  that  ques- 
tion," I  said,  and  there  was  a  tenseness  in  my  tone 
that  caused  my  hearers  to  look  at  me  with  eager, 
questioning  eyes. 

"  Barring,"  I  said,  "  the  possibility  of  destruction 
before  I  can  gain  opportunity  to  speak  to  some  one 
in  authority,  there  is  nothing  to  fear  in  the  way  of 
our  ungracious  reception  in  the  outer  world  — " 
As  I  paused  and  looked  about  me  I  saw  Marguerite's 
eyes  shining  with  the  same  worshipful  wonder  as 
when  I  had  visioned  for  her  the  sunlight  and  the 
storms  of  the  world  outside  Berlin  — "  because  I  am 
of  that  world.  I  speak  their  language.  I  know 
their  people.  I  never  saw  the  inside  of  Berlin  un- 
til I  was  brought  here  from  the  potash  mines  of 
Stassfurt,  wearing  the  clothes  and  carrying  the  iden- 
tification papers  of  one  Karl  Armstadt  who  was 
killed  by  gas  bombs  which  I  myself  had  ordered 
dropped  into  those  mines." 

At  these  startling  statements  the  older  men  could 
only  gasp  in  incredulous  astonishment,  but  Captain 
Grauble  nodded  wisely  — "  I  half  expected  as  much," 
he  said. 

I  turned  to  Marguerite.  Her  eyes  were  swim- 
ming in  a  mist  of  tears. 

'  Then  your  visions  were  real  memories,"  she 
cried, — "  and  not  miracles.  I  knew  you  had  seen 
other  worlds,  but  I  thought  it  was  in  some  spirit 
life."  She  reached  out  a  trembling  hand  toward 
me  and  then  shrinkingly  drew  it  back.      "  But  you 


32o         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

are  not  Karl  Armstadt,"  she  stammered,  as  sh  i  real- 
ised that  I  was  a  nameless  stranger. 

"  No,"  I  said,  going  to  her  and  placing  a  reassur- 
ing arm  about  her  shoulder,  "  I  am  not  Karl  Arm- 
stadt. My  name  is  Lyman  de  Forrest.  I  am  an 
American,  a  chemical  engineer  from  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago, and  if  Captain  Grauble  does  not  alter  his  pur- 
pose, I  am  going  back  there  and  will  take  you  with 
me." 

Zimmern  and  Hellar  were  listening  in  consterna- 
tion. "  How  is  it,"  asked  Hellar,  "  that  you  speak 
German?  " 

By  way  of  answer  I  addressed  him  in  English  and 
in  French,  while  he  and  Zimmern  glanced  at  each 
other  as  do  men  who  see  a  miracle  and  strive  to 
hold  their  reason  while  their  senses  contradict  their 
logic. 

I  now  sketched  the  story  of  my  life  and  adven- 
tures with  a  fulness  of  convincing  detail.  One  inci- 
dent only  I  omitted  and  that  was  of  the  near  dis- 
covery of  my  identity  by  Armstadt's  former  mistress. 
Of  that  I  did  not  speak  for  I  felt  that  Marguerite, 
at  least  in  the  presence  of  the  others,  would  not  rel- 
ish that  part  of  the  story.  Nor  did  I  wish  to  worry 
them  with  the  fear  that  was  still  upon  me  that  I  had 
not  seen  the  last  of  that  affair. 

After  answering  many  questions  and  satisfying  all 
doubts  as  to  the  truth  of  my  story,  I  again  turned 
the  conversation  to  the  practical  problem  of  the 
escape  from  Berlin.  "  You  can  now  see,"  I  de- 
clared, "  that  I  deserve  no  credit  for  genius  or  cour- 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED         321 

age.  I  am  merely  a  prisoner  in  an  enemy  city  where 
my  life  is  in  constant  danger.  If  any  one  of  you 
should  speak  the  word,  I  would  be  promptly  dis- 
posed of  as  a  spy.  But  if  you  are  sincere  in  your 
desire  to  send  a  message  to  my  Government,  I  am 
here  to  take  that  message." 

"  It  almost  makes  one  believe  that  there  is  a  God," 
cried  Hellar,  "  and  that  he  has  sent  us  a  deliverer." 

"  As  for  me,"  spoke  up  Captain  Grauble,  "  I  shall 
deliver  your  messenger  into  the  hands  of  his  friends, 
and  trust  that  he  can  persuade  them  to  deal  gra- 
ciously with  me  and  my  men.  I  should  have  made 
this  break  for  liberty  before  had  I  not  believed  it 
would  be  fleeing  from  one  death  to  another." 

'  Then  you  will  surely  leave  us,"  said  Zimmern. 
"  It  is  more  than  we  have  wished  and  prayed  for, 
but,"  he  added,  turning  a  compassionate  glance  to- 
ward Marguerite,  "  it  will  be  hard  for  her." 

"  But  she  is  going  with  us,"  I  affirmed.  "  I  will 
not  leave  her  behind.  As  for  you  and  Col  Hellar, 
I  shall  see  you  again  when  Berlin  is  free.  But  the 
risks  are  great  and  the  time  may  be  long,  and  if 
Marguerite  will  go  I  will  take  her  with  me  as  a 
pledge  that  I  shall  not  prove  false  in  my  mission 
for  you,  her  people." 

I  read  Marguerite's  answer  in  the  joy  of  her  eyes, 
as  I  heard  Col.  Hellar  say:  "  That  would  be  fine, 
if  it  were  possible." 

But  Zimmern  shook  his  head.  "  No,"  he  said, 
as  if  commanding.  "  Marguerite  must  not  go  now 
even  if  it  were  possible.     You  may  come  back  for 


322         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

her  if  you  succeed  in  your  mission,  but  we  cannot 
lose  her  now;  she  must  not  go  now, — "  and  his  voice 
trembled  with  deep  emotion.  At  his  words  of  au- 
thority concerning  the  girl  I  loved  I  felt  a  resurge 
of  the  old  suspicion  and  jealousy. 

"  I  am  sorry,"  spoke  up  Captain  Grauble,  "  but 
your  desire  to  take  the  Princess  Marguerite  with  you 
is  one  that  I  fear  cannot  be  realized.  I  would  be 
perfectly  willing  for  her  to  go  if  we  could  once  get 
her  aboard,  but  the  approach  of  the  submarine  docks 
are  very  elaborately  guarded.  To  smuggle  a  man 
aboard  without  a  proper  permit  would  be  exceed- 
ingly difficult,  but  to  get  a  woman  to  the  vessel  is 
quite  impossible." 

"  I  suppose  that  it  cannot  be,"  I  said,  for  I  saw 
the  futility  of  arguing  the  matter  further  at  the  time, 
especially  as  Zimmern  was  opposed  to  it. 

The  night  was  now  far  spent  and  but  four  days 
remained  in  which  to  complete  my  preparations  for 
departure.  In  this  labour  Zimmern  and  Hellar 
could  be  of  no  service  and  I  therefore  took  my  leave 
of  them,  lest  I  should  not  see  them  again.  "  Within 
a  year  at  most,"  I  said,  "  we  may  meet  again,  for 
Berlin  will  be  open  to  the  world.  Once  the  passage 
is  revealed  and  the  protium  traffic  stopped,  the  food 
stores  cannot  last  longer.  When  these  facts  are 
realized  by  His  Majesty  and  the  Advisory  Council, 
let  us  hope  they  will  see  the  futility  of  resisting. 
The  knowledge  that  Germany  possesses  will  increase 
the  world's  food  supply  far  more  than  her  population 
will  add  to  the  consumptive  demands,  hence  if  rea- 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED        323 

son  and  sanity  prevail  on  both  sides  there  will  be  no 
excuse  for  war  and  suffering." 

3 

And  so  I  took  my  leave  of  the  two  men  from 
whose  noble  souls  I  had  achieved  my  aspirations  to 
bring  the  century-old  siege  of  Berlin  to  a  sane  and 
peaceful  end  without  the  needless  waste  of  life  that 
all  the  world  outside  had  always  believed  would  be 
an  inevitable  part  of  the  capitulation  of  the  ar- 
moured city. 

I  now  walked  with  Marguerite  through  the  de- 
serted tree-lined  avenues  of  the  Royal  Level. 

"  And  why,  dear,"  I  asked,  "  have  you  refused  to 
see  me  these  five  days  past?  " 

"  Oh,  Karl,"  she  cried,  "  you  must  forgive  me, 
for  nothing  matters  now  —  I  have  been  crazed  with 
jealousy.  I  was  so  hurt  that  I  could  see  no  one,  for 
I  could  only  fight  it  out  alone." 

"And  what  do  you  mean?"  I  questioned. 
"Jealous?  And  of  whom  could  you  be  jealous, 
since  there  is  no  other  woman  in  this  unhappy  city 
for  whom  I  have  ever  cared?  " 

"  Yes,  I  believe  that.  I  haven't  doubted  that 
you  loved  me  with  a  nobler  love  than  the  others,  but 
you  told  me  there  were  no  others,  and  I  believed 
you.  So  it  was  hard,  so  very  hard.  The  Doctor  — 
I  saw  Dr.  Zimmern  this  morning  and  poured  out  my 
heart  to  him  —  insisted  that  I  should  accept  the  fact 
that  until  marriage  all  men  were  like  that,  and 
it  could  not  be   helped.     But   I   never   asked  you, 


324         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

Karl,  about  other  women;  you  yourself  volunteered 
to  tell  me  there  were  no  others,  and  what  you  told 
me  was  not  true.  I  must  forgive  you,  for  now  I 
may  lose  you,  but  why  does  a  man  ever  need  to  lie 
to  a  woman?  I  somehow  feel  that  love  means 
truth—" 

"  But,"  I  insisted,  "  it  was  the  truth.  I  bear  no 
personal  relation  to  any  other  woman." 

She  drew  back  from  me,  breathing  quickly,  faith 
and  doubt  fighting  a  battle  royal  in  her  eyes.  "  But 
the  checks,  Karl?"  she  stammered;  "those  checks 
the  girl  on  the  Free  Level  cashes  each  month,  and 
worse  than  that  the  check  at  the  Jeweller's  where 
you  bought  a  necklace  for  twenty  thousand  marks?  " 

"  Quite  right,  there  are  such  checks,  and  I  shall 
explain  them.  But  before  I  begin,  may  I  ask  just 
how  you  came  to  know  about  those  checks?  Not 
that  I  care;  I  am  glad  you  do  know;  but  the  fact  of 
your  knowledge  puzzles  me,  for  I  thought  the  pri- 
vacy of  a  man's  checking  account  was  one  of  the 
unfair  privileges  that  man  has  usurped  for  himself 
and  not  granted  to  women." 

"  But  I  did  not  pry  into  the  matter.  I  would 
never  have  thought  of  such  a  thing  until  he  forced 
the  facts  upon  me." 

"He?     You  mean  von  Kufner?  " 

"  Yes,  it  was  five  days  ago.  I  was  out  walking 
with  him  and  he  insisted  on  my  going  into  a  jewellery 
store  we  were  passing.  I  at  first  refused  to  go  as  I 
thought  he  wished  to  buy  me  something.  But  he 
insisted  that  he  merely  wanted  me  to  look  at  things 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED        325 

and  I  went  in.  You  see,  I  was  trying  not  to  offend 
him." 

"  Of  course,"  I  said,  "  there  was  no  harm  in  that. 
And—" 

"  The  Admiral  winked  at  the  Jeweller.  I  saw 
him  do  that;  and  the  jeweller  set  out  a  tray  of  ruby 
necklaces  and  began  to  talk  about  them,  and  then 
von  Kufner  remarked  that  since  they  were  so  ex- 
pensive he  must  not  sell  many.  '  Oh,  yes,'  said  the 
Jeweller,  '  I  sell  a  great  number  to  young  men  who 
have  just  come  into  money.  I  sold  one  the  other 
day  to  Herr  von  Armstadt  of  the  Chemical  Staff,' 
and  he  reached  for  his  sales  book  and  opened  it  to 
the  page  with  a  record  of  the  sale.  He  had  the 
place  marked,  for  I  saw  him  remove  a  slip  as  he 
opened  the  book." 

"  Rather  clever  of  von  Kufner,"  I  commented; 
"  how  do  you  suppose  he  got  trail  of  it?  " 

"  He  admitted  his  trailing  quite  frankly,"  said 
Marguerite,  "  for  as  soon  as  we  were  out  of  the 
shop,  I  accused  him  of  preparing  the  scene.  '  Of 
course,'  he  said,  '  but  I  had  to  convince  you  that 
your  chemist  was  not  so  saintly  as  you  thought  him. 
His  banker  is  a  friend  of  mine,  and  I  asked  him 
about  von  Armstadt's  account.  He  is  keeping  a  girl 
on  the  Free  Level  and  evidently  also  making  love  to 
one  of  better  caste,  or  he  would  hardly  be  buying 
ruby  necklaces.'  I  told  von  Kufner  that  he  was  a 
miserable  spy,  but  he  only  laughed  at  me  and  said 
that  all  men  were  alike  and  that  I  ought  to  find  it 
out  while  I  was  young  —  and  then  he  asked  if  I 


326         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

would  like  him  to  have  the  young  woman's  record 
sent  up  from  the  Free  Level  for  my  inspection.  I 
ordered  him  to  leave  me  at  once  and  I  have  not  seen 
or  heard  from  him  since,  until  I  received  a  note  from 
him  today  telling  me  of  the  Royal  order  for  you  to 
go  to  the  Arctic." 

I  first  set  Marguerite's  mind  at  ease  about  the 
checks  to  Bertha  by  explaining  the  incident  of  the 
geography,  and  then  told  the  story  of  Katrina  and 
the  meeting  in  the  cafe,  and  the  later  affair  of  Hol- 
knecht  and  the  necklace. 

"  And  you  will  promise  me  never  to  see  her 
again  r 

"  But  you  have  forgotten,"  I  said,  "  that  I  am 
leaving  Berlin  in  four  days." 

"  Oh,  Karl,"  she  cried,  "  I  have  forgotten  every- 
thing —  I  cannot  even  remember  that  new  name  you 
gave  us  —  I  believe  I  must  be  dreaming  —  or  that 
it  is  all  a  wild  story  you  have  told  us  to  see  how 
much  we  in  our  simplicity  and  ignorance  will  be- 
lieve." 

"  No,"  I  said  gently,  "  it  is  not  a  dream,  though 
I  could  wish  that  it  were,  for  Grauble  says  that  there 
is  no  hope  of  taking  you  with  me;  and  yet  I  must 
go,  for  the  Emperor  has  ordered  me  to  the  Arctic 
and  von  Kufner  will  see  to  it  that  I  make  no  ex- 
cuses. If  I  once  leave  Berlin  by  submarine  with 
Grauble  I  do  not  see  how  I  can  refuse  to  carry  out 
my  part  of  this  project  to  which  I  am  pledged,  and 
make  the  effort  to  reach  the  free  world  outside." 

Marguerite  turned  on  me  with  a  bitter  laugh. 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED        327 

"  The  free  world,"  she  cried,  "  your  world.  You 
are  going  back  to  it  and  leave  me  here.  You  are 
going  back  to  your  own  people  —  you  will  not  save 
Germany  at  all  —  you  will  never  come  back  for 
me!" 

"  You  are  very  wrong,"  I  said  gently.  "  It  is 
because  I  have  known  you  and  known  such  men  as 
Dr.  Zimmern  and  Col.  Hellar  that  I  do  want  to 
carry  the  message  that  will  for  ever  end  this  sunless 
life  of  your  imprisoned  race." 

"  But,"  cried  Marguerite,  "  you  do  not  want  to 
take  me;  you  could  find  a  way  if  you  would  —  you 
made  the  Emperor  do  your  bidding  once  —  you 
could  do  it  again  if  you  wanted  to." 

"  I  very  much  want  to  take  you;  to  go  without 
you  would  be  but  a  bitter  success." 

"  But  have  you  no  wife,  or  no  girl  you  love  among 
your  own  people?  " 

"  No." 

"  But  if  I  should  go  with  you,  the  people  of  your 
v  irld  would  welcome  you  but  they  would  imprison 
.or  kill  me  as  a  spy." 

''  No,"  and  I  smiled  as  I  answered,  "  they  do  not 
kill  women." 

4 
During  four  brief  days  that  remained  until  Capt. 
Grauble's  vessel  was  due  to  depart  my  every  hour 
was  full  of  hurried  preparations  for  my  survey  of 
the  Arctic  mines.  Clothing  for  the  rigours  and 
rough  labour  of  that  fearful  region  had  to  be  ob- 


328  CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

tained  and  I  had  to  get  together  the  reports  of  pre- 
vious surveys  and  the  instruments  for  the  ore  anal- 
yses that  would  be  needed.  Nor  was  I  altogether 
faithless  in  these  preparations  for  at  times  I  felt  that 
my  first  duty  might  be  thus  to  aid  in  the  further  pro- 
visioning of  the  imprisoned  race,  for  how  was  I  to 
know  that  I  would  be  able  to  end  the  state  of  war 
that  had  prevailed  in  spite  of  the  generations  of 
pacifist  efforts?  At  times  I  even  doubted  that  this 
break  for  the  outer  world  would  ever  be  made.  I 
doubted  that  Capt.  Grauble,  though  he  solemnly  as- 
sured us  that  he  was  ready  for  the  venture,  was  act- 
ing in  good  faith.  Could  he,  I  asked,  persuade  his 
men  to  their  part  of  the  adventure  ?  Would  not  our 
traitorous  design  be  discovered  and  we  both  be  re- 
turned as  prisoners  to  Berlin?  Granted  even  that 
Grauble  could  carry  out  his  part  and  that  the  sub- 
marine proceeded  as  planned  to  rise  to  the  surface 
or  attempt  to  make  some  port,  with  the  best  of  in- 
tentions of  surrendering  to  the  World  State  authori- 
ties, might  not  we  be  destroyed  before  we  could 
make  clear  our  peaceful  and  friendly  intention? 
Could  I,  coming  out  of  Germany  with  Germans 
prove  my  identity?  Would  my  story  be  believed? 
Would  I  have  believed  such  a  story  before  the  days 
of  my  sojourn  among  the  Germans?  Might  I  not 
be  consigned  to  languish  in  prison  as  a  merely  clever 
German  spy,  or  be  consigned  to  an  insanity  ward? 

At  times  I  doubted  even  my  own  desire  to  escape 
from  Berlin  if  it  meant  the  desertion  of  Marguerite, 
for  there  could  be  no  joy  in  escape  for  me  without 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED        329 

her.  Yet  I  found  small  relish  in  looking  forward 
to  life  as  a  member  of  that  futile  clan  of  parasitical 
Royalty.  Had  Germany  been  a  free  society  where 
we  might  hope  to  live  in  peace  and  freedom  perhaps 
I  could  have  looked  forward  to  a  marriage  with 
Marguerite  and  considered  life  among  the  Germans 
a  tolerable  thing.  But  for  such  a  life  as  we  must 
needs  live,  albeit  the  most  decent  Berlin  had  to 
offer,  I  could  find  no  relish  —  and  the  thought  of 
escape  and  call  of  duty  beyond  the  bomb  proof  walls 
and  poisoned  soil  called  more  strongly  than  could 
any  thought  of  love  and  domesticity  within  the  ac- 
cursed circle  of  fraudulent  divinity. 

There  was  also  "the  danger  that  lurked  for  me  in 
Holknecht's  knowledge  of  my  identity  and  the  bit- 
terness of  his  anger  born  of  his  insane  and  stupid 
jealousy. 

Rather  than  remain  longer  in  Berlin  I  would  take 
any  chance  and  risk  any  danger  if  only  Marguerite 
were  not  to  be  left  behind.  And  yet  she  must  be 
left  behind,  for  such  a  thing  as  getting  a  woman 
aboard  a  submarine  or  even  to  the  submarine  docks 
had  never  been  heard  of.  I  thought  of  all  the  usual 
tricks  of  disguising  her  as  a  man,  of  smuggling  her 
as  a  stowaway  amidst  the  cargo,  but  Grauble's  in- 
sistence upon  the  impossibility  of  such  plans  had 
made  it  all  too  clear  that  any  such  wild  attempt 
would  lead  to  the  undoing  of  us  all. 

If  escape  were  possible  with  Marguerite — ! 
But  cold  reason  said  that  escape  was  improbable 
enough  for  me  alone.      For  a  woman  of  the  House 


33Q         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

of  Hohenzollern  the  prison  of  Berlin  had  walls  of 
granite  and  locks  of  steel. 

The  time  of  departure  drew  nearer.  I  had  al- 
ready been  passed  down  by  the  stealthy  guards  and 
through  the  numerous  locked  and  barred  gates  to 
the  subterranean  docks  where  Grauble's  vessel,  the 
Eitel  j,  rested  on  the  heavy  trucks  that  would  bear 
her  away  through  the  tunnel  to  the  pneumatic  lock 
that  would  float  her  into  the  passage  that  led  to  the 
open  sea. 

My  supplies  and  apparatus  were  stored  on  board 
and  the  crew  were  making  ready  to  be  off.  But 
three  hours  were  left  until  the  time  of  our  departure 
and  these  hours  I  had  set  aside  for  my  final  leave- 
taking  of  Marguerite.  I  hastened  back  through  the 
guarded  gates  to  the  elevator  and  was  quickly  lifted 
to  the  Royal  Level  where  Marguerite  was  to  be 
waiting  for  me. 

With  fast  beating  and  rebellious  heart  I  rang  the 
bell  of  the  Countess'  apartment.  I  could  scarcely 
believe  I  heard  aright  when  the  servant  informed 
me  that  the  Princess  Marguerite  had  gone  out. 

I  demanded  to  see  the  Countess  and  was  ushered 
into  the  reception-room  and  suffered  unbearably 
during  the  few  minutes  till  she  appeared.  To  my 
excited  question  she  replied  with  a  teasing  smile  that 
Marguerite  had  gone  out  a  half  hour  before  with 
Admiral  von  Kufner.  "  I  warned  you,"  said  the 
Countess  as  she  saw  the  tortured  expression  of  my 
face,  "  but  you  would  not  believe  me,  when  I  told 
you  the  Admiral  would  prove  a  dangerous  man." 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED        331 

"  But  it  is  impossible,"  I  cried.  "  I  am  leaving 
for  the  Arctic  mines.  I  have  only  a  couple  of 
hours;  surely  you  are  hiding  something.  Did  you 
see  her  go?  Did  she  leave  no  word?  Do  you 
know  where  they  have  gone  or  when  they  will  re- 
turn ?  "  . 

The  Countess  shook  her  head.      "  I  only  know  " 
she  replied  more  sympathetically,  "  that  Marguerite 
seemed  very  excited  all  morning.      She  talked  with 
me  of  your  leaving  and  seemed  very  wrought  up  over 
it,  and  then  but  an  hour  or  so  ago  she  rushed  into 
her  room  and  telephoned  -  it  must  have  been  to 
the  Admiral,  for  he  came  shortly  afterwards.     They 
talked  together  for  a  little  while  and  then,  without 
a  word  to  me  they  went  out,  seeming  to  be  in  a  great 
hurry.      Perhaps  she  felt  so  upset  over  your  leav- 
ing that  she  thought  it  kinder  not  to  risk  a  parting 

SZn\j  1S  S°  h°neSt'  poor  chiId'  that  she  prob- 
ably did  not  wish  to  send  you  away  with  any  false 
hopes.  J 

"  But  do  you  mean,"  I  cried,  "  that  you  think  she 
has  gone  out  with  von  Kufner  to  avoid  seeing  me?  " 

"  I  am  sorry,"  consoled  the  Countess,  "  but  it 
looks  that  way.  It  was  cruel  of  her,  for  she  might 
have  sent  you  away  with  hope  to  live  on  till  your 
return,  even  if  she  felt  she  could  not  wait  for  you." 
I  strove  not  to  show  my  anger  to  the  Countess, 
tor,  considering  her  ignorance  of  the  true  signifi- 
cance of  the  occasion,  I  could  not  expect  a  lull  un- 
derstanding. 

Miserably  I  waited  for  two  hours  as  the  Countess 


332         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

tried  to  entertain  me  with  her  misplaced  efforts  at 
sympathy  while  I  battled  to  keep  my  faith  in  Mar- 
guerite alive  despite  the  damaging  evidence  that 
she  had  deserted  me  at  the  last  hour. 

I  telephoned  to  von  Kufner's  office  and  to  his 
residence  but  could  get  no  word  as  to  his  where- 
abouts, and  Marguerite  did  not  return. 

I  dared  not  wait  any  longer  —  asking  for  en- 
velope and  paper,  I  penned  a  hasty  note  to  Mar- 
guerite: "I  shall  go  on  to  the  Arctic  and  come 
back  to  you.  The  salvation  of  Berlin  must  wait 
till  you  can  go  with  me.  I  cannot,  will  not,  lose 
you. 

And  then  I  tore  myself  away  and  hastened  to  the 
elevator  and  was  dropped  to  a  subterranean  level 
and  passed  again  through  the  locked  and  guarded 
gates. 

5 

As  I  came  to  the  vessel  no  one  was  in  sight  but  the 
regular  guards  pacing  along  the  loading  docks.  I 
mounted  the  ladder  to  the  deck.  The  second  officer 
stood  by  the  open  trap.  "  They  are  waiting  for 
you,"  he  said.  "  The  Admiral  himself  is  below. 
He  came  with  his  lady  to  see  you  off." 

I  hastened  to  descend  and  saw  von  Kufner  and 
Marguerite  chatting  with  Captain  Grauble. 

"Why  the  delay?"  asked  von  Kufner.  "It  is 
nearly  the  hour  of  departure,  and  I  have  brought 
the  Princess  to  bid  you  farewell.  We  have  been 
showii  g  her  the  vessel." 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED        333 

'  It  is  all  very  wonderful,"  said  Marguerite  with 
a  calm  voice,  but  her  eyes  spoke  the  feverish  excite- 
ment of  a  great  adventure. 

'  The  Princess  Marguerite,"  said  von  Kufner, 
"  is  the  only  woman  who  has  ever  seen  a  submarine 
since  the  open  sea  traffic  was  closed.  But  she  has 
seen  it  all  and  now  we  must  take  our  leave  for  it  is 
time  that  you  should  be  off." 

As  he  finished  speaking  the  Admiral  politely 
stepped  away  to  give  me  opportunity  for  a  farewell 
word  with  Marguerite.  Grauble  followed  him  and, 
as  he  passed  me,  he  gave  me  a  look  of  gloating  tri- 
umph and  then  opened  the  door  of  his  cabin,  which 
the  Admiral  entered. 

"  I  am  going  with  you,"  whispered  Marguerite. 
"  Grauble  understands." 

There  was  the  sound  of  a  scuffle  and  a  strangled 
oath.  Grauble's  head  appeared  at  the  cabin  door. 
"  Here,  Armstadt;  be  quick,  and  keep  him  quiet." 

I  plunged  into  the  cabin  and  saw  von  Kufner 
crumpled  against  the  bunk;  his  hands  were  manacled 
behind  him  and  his  mouth  stuffed  with  a  cloth. 

With  an  exulting  joy  I  threw  myself  upon  the 
man  as  he  struggled  to  rise.  I  easily  held  him  down, 
and  whipping  out  my  own  kerchief  I  bound  it  tightly 
across  his  mouth  to  more  effectively  gag  him. 

Then  rolling  him  over  I  planted  my  knee  on  his 
back  while  I  ripped  a  sheet  from  the  bunk  and  bound 
his  feet. 

From  without  I  heard  Grauble's  voice  in  com- 
mand :     "  Close  the  hatch."     Then  I  felt  the  vessel 


334         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

quiver  with  machinery  in  motion  and  I  knew  that 
we  were  moving  along  the  tunnel  toward  the  sea. 

Grauble  appeared  again  in  the  door  of  the  cabin. 
'  The  mate  understands,"  he  said,  "  and  the  crew 
will  obey.  I  told  them  that  the  Admiral  was  going 
out  with  us  to  inspect  the  lock.  But  the  presence 
of  a  woman  aboard  will  puzzle  them.  I  have  placed 
the  Princess  in  the  mate's  cabin  so  no  one  can  molest 
her.     We  have  other  things  to  keep  us  occupied." 

With  Grauble's  help  I  now  bound  von  Kufner 
to  the  staunch  metal  leg  of  the  burk  and  we  left  him 
alone  in  the  narrow  room  to  p-  .Jer  on  the  mean- 
ing of  what  he  had  heard. 

Outside  Grauble  led  me  over  to  the  instrument 
board  where  the  mate  was  stationed. 

"  Any  unusual  message?  "  asked  Grauble. 

"  None,"  said  the  mate.  "  I  think  we  will  go 
through  without  interruption  at  least  until  we  reach 
the  lock;  if  anything  is  suspicioned  we  will  be  held 
up  there  for  examination." 

"  Do  you  think  the  guards  at  the  dock  suspected 
anything?  "  questioned  Grauble. 

"  It  is  not  likely,"  replied  the  mate.  "  They  saw 
him  come  aboard,  but  he  spoke  to  none  of  them. 
They  will  presume  he  is  going  out  to  the  lock.  The 
presence  of  a  woman  will  puzzle  them;  but,  as  she 
was  with  the  Admiral,  they  will  not  dare  interfere 
or  even  report  the  fact." 

"Then  what  do  you  think  we  have  to  fear?" 
asked  Grauble. 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED        335 

"  Only  the  chance  that  the  Admiral's  absence  may 
be  noted  at  his  office  and  inquiry  be  made." 

"  Of  that  the  Princess  could  tell  us  something,1' 
said  Grauble.      "  We  will  talk  with  her." 

Grauble  now  led  me  to  the  mate's  snug  cabin, 
where  we  found  Marguerite  seated  on  the  bunk, 
looking  very  pale  and  anxious. 

"  Everything  is  going  nicely,  so  far,"  the  Captain 
assured  her.  "  We  have  only  one  thing  to  fear, 
and  that  is  that  inquiry  from  the  Administration 
Office  for  the  Admiral  may  be  addressed  to  the 
Commander  of  the  Lock." 

"  But  how  will  they  know  that  he  is  with  us?" 
asked  Marguerite.      "Will  the  guards  report  it?" 

"  I  do  not  think  so,"  said  Grauble,  "  but  does  any 
one  at  his  office  know  that  he  came  to  the  docks?  " 

"  I  do  not  see  how  they  could,"  replied  Mar- 
guerite; "he  was  at  his  apartment  when  I  called 
him.  He  came  to  me  at  once,  not  knowing  why  I 
wished  to  see  him.  I  begged  him  to  take  me  to  see 
you  off.  I  swore  that  if  he  did  not  I  should  never 
speak  to  him  again,  and  he  agreed  to  do  so.  He 
seemed  to  think  himself  very  generous  and  talked 
much  of  the  distinctive  privilege  he  was  conferring 
upon  me  by  acceding  to  my  request.  But  he  told 
no  one  where  we  were  going.  He  communicated 
with  no  one  from  the  time  he  came  to  me  until  we 
arrived  at  the  vessel.  The  guards  and  gate-keepers 
let  us  pass  without  question." 

"  That  is  fine,"  cried  Grauble;  "  von  Kufner  often 


336         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

stays  away  from  his  office  for  days  at  a  time.  Un- 
less some  chance  information  leaks  back  from  the 
guards,  he  will  not  be  missed.  Our  chance  of  being 
passed  speedily  out  the  lock  is  good  —  there  is  a 
vessel  due  to  lock  in  this  very  day  and  we  could 
not  be  held  back  to  block  the  tunnel.  That  is  why 
the  Admiral  was  impatient  when  Armstadt  failed 
to  appear;  he  knew  our  departure  ought  not  be  de- 
layed." 

"  And  what,"  I  asked,  "  do  you  propose  to  do 
with  the  Admiral?  " 

"  I  suppose  we  must  take  him  with  us  as  a  pris- 
oner," replied  the  Captain.  "  Your  World  State 
Government  would  appreciate  a  prisoner  of  the 
House  of  Hohenzollern." 

At  this  suggestion  Marguerite  shook  her  head  em- 
phatically. "  I  do  not  like  that,"  she  said.  "  Is 
there  not  some  way  to  leave  him  behind?  " 

"  I  do  not  like  it  either,"  said  Grauble,  "  because 
I  fear  his  presence  aboard  may  make  trouble  among 
my  men.  I  do  not  think  they  will  object  to  desert- 
ing with  us  to  the  free  world.  Their  life  in  this 
service  is  hopeless  enough  and  this  is  my  fifth  trip; 
they  have  a  belief  that  the  Captain's  fifth  trip  is  an 
ill-fated  one;  not  a  man  aboard  but  trembles  in  the 
dire  fear  that  he  will  never  see  Berlin  again.  They 
will  welcome  with  joy  a  proposal  to  escape  with  us, 
but  to  ask  them  to  make  the  attempt  with  the  Ad- 
miral himself  on  board  as  a  prisoner  is  a  different 
thing.     These  men  are  cowed  by  authority  and  I 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED        337 

know  not  what  notions  they  might  have  of  their  fate 
if  they  are  to  kidnap  the  Admiral." 

"  But,"  I  questioned,  "  is  there  no  possible  way  to 
leave  him  behind?  " 

Grauble  sat  thinking  for  a  moment.      "  Yes,"  he 
said,  "  there  is  one  way  we  might  do  it.     We  could 
shave  his  beard  and  clip  his  hair,  dress  him  in  a  ma- 
chimst's  garb  and  smear  his  hands  and  face  with 
grease.     Then  I  could  drug  him  and  we  could  carry 
him  off  at  the  lock  and  put  him  in  a  cell.     I  would 
report  that  one  of  my  men  had  gone  raving  mad, 
and  I  had  drugged  him  to  keep  him  from  doing 
injury  to  himself  and  others.     It  would  create  no 
great  surprise.      Men  in  this  service  frequently  go 
mad;  and  I  am  provided  with  a  sleep  producing  drug 
for  just  such  emergencies." 
"  Then  go  ahead,"  I  said. 

"  But  you  will  lose  the  satisfaction  of  delivering 
him  prisoner  to  your  government,"  smiled  Grauble. 
"  I  have  no  love  for  the  Admiral,"  I  replied,  "  but 
I  think  his  punishment  will  be  more  appropriately 
attended  to  in  Berlin.  When  our  escape  is  known 
he  will  indeed  have  a  rather  difficult  time  explaining 
to  His  Majesty." 

This  suggestion  of  the  pompous  Admiral's  pre- 
dicament if  thus  left  behind  seemed  to  amuse  Grau- 
ble and  he  at  once  led  the  way  back  to  his  own 
cabin. 

Von  Kufner  was  lying  very  quietly  in  his  bonds 
and  glared  up  at  us  with  a  weak  and  futile  rage. 


338         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

Grauble  smiled  cynically  at  his  prostrate  chief.  "  I 
had  thought  to  take  you  along  with  us,"  he  said, 
"  but  I  am  afraid  the  excitement  of  the  voyage  would 
be  unpleasant  for  you  so  I  have  decided  to  leave  you 
at  the  lock  to  take  our  farewell  back  to  His  Maj- 
esty." 

Von  Kufner,  helpless  and  gagged  was  given  no 
opportunity  to  reply,  for  Grauble,  unlocking  his  med- 
icine case  took  out  a  small  hypodermic  syringe  and 
plunged  the  needle  into  the  prisoner's  thigh. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  Admiral  was  unconscious. 
The  Captain  now  brought  a  suit  of  soiled  mechanic's 
clothes  and  a  clipper  and  razor,  and  in  a  half  hour 
the  prim  Admiral  in  his  fancy  uniform  had  been  re- 
duced to  the  likeness  of  an  oiler.  His  face  roughly 
shaved,  but  pale  and  sallow,  gave  a  very  good  simu- 
lation of  illness  of  mind  and  body. 

"  He  will  remain  like  that  for  at  least  twelve 
hours,"  said  Grauble.     "  I  gave  him  a  heavy  dose." 

Again  we  went  out,  locking  the  unconscious  Ad- 
miral in  the  cabin.  "  You  may  go  and  keep  the 
Princess  company,"  said  Grauble,  "  while  I  talk  with 
my  men  and  give  them  an  inkling  of  what  we  are 
planning.  If  there  is  any  trouble  at  the  lock  it  is 
better  that  they  comprehend  that  hope  of  freedom 
is  in  store  for  them." 

Amid  tears  of  joy  Marguerite  now  told  me  of  her 
belated  conception  of  the  desperate  plan  to  induce 
von  Kufner  to  bring  her  to  the  docks  to  see  us  de- 
part, and  how  she  had  pretended  to  disbelieve  that 
I   was   really   going   and   bargained   to   marry   him 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED        339 

within  sixty  days  if  slie  could  be  assured  by  her  own 
eyes  that  I  had  really  departed  for  the  Arctic. 

As  we  waited  feverishly  for  the  first  nerve-racking 
part  of  the  journey  to  be  over,  we  spoke  of  the 
hopes  and  dangers  of  the  great  adventure  upon  which 
we  were  finally  embarked.     And  so  the  hours  passed. 

At  last  we  felt  the  rumble  of  the  motors  die  and 
knew  that  the  movement  of  the  vessel  had  ceased. 


The  voice  of  the  mate  spoke  at  the  door:  "  Re- 
main quiet  inside,"  he  said,  and  a  key  turned  and 
clicked  the  bolt  of  the  lock.  The  tense  minutes 
passed.  Again  the  key  turned  in  the  door  and  the 
mate  stuck  his  head  inside.  "  Come  quick,"  he  said 
to  me. 

I  followed  him  into  Capt.  Grauble's  cabin,  but  saw 
Grauble  nowhere. 

"  Remove  your  clothing,"  said  the  mate,  as  he 
seized  a  sponge  and  soap  and  began  washing  the 
blackened  oil  from  the  hands  and  face  of  the  un- 
conscious Admiral.  "  We  must  dress  him  in  your 
uniform.  The  Commander  of  the  Lock  has  orders 
to  take  you  off  the  vessel.  We  must  pass  the  Ad- 
miral off  for  you.  He  will  never  be  recognized. 
The  Commander  has  never  seen  you." 

Obeying,  without  fully  comprehending,  I  helped 
to  quickly  dress  the  unconscious  man  in  my  own 
clothing.  We  had  barely  finished  when  we  heard 
voices  outside. 

"  Quick,  under  the  bunk,"   whispered  the  mate. 


34Q         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

As  I  obediently  crawled  into  the  hiding  place,  the 
mate  kicked  in  after  me  the  remainder  of  the  oiler's 
clothing  which  I  had  been  trying  to  put  on  and 
pulled  the  disarranged  bedding  half  off  the  bunk  the 
better  to  hide  me.  Then  he  opened  the  door  and 
several  men  entered. 

"  I  had  to  drug  him,"  said  Grauble's  voice,  "  be- 
cause he  was  so  violent  with  fear  when  I  had  him 
manacled  that  I  thought  he  might  attempt  to  beat 
out  his  brains." 

"  Let  me  see  his  papers,"  said  a  strange  voice. 

After  a  brief  interval  the  same  voice  spoke 
again — "  These  are  identical  with  the  description 
given  by  His  Majesty's  secretary.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  this  is  the  man  they  want,  but  I  do  not 
see  how  an  enemy  spy  could  ever  pass  for  a  German, 
even  if  he  had  the  clothing  and  identification.  He 
does  not  even  look  like  the  description  in  the  folder. 
The  chemists  must  be  very  stupid  to  have  accepted 
him  as  one  of  them." 

11  It  is  strange,"  replied  the  voice  of  Capt.  Grau- 
ble,  "  but  this  man  was  very  clever." 

il  It  is  only  that  most  men  are  very  dull,"  replied 
the  other  voice.  "  Now  I  should  have  suspected 
at  once  that  the  man  was  not  a  German.  But  he 
shall  answer  for  his  cleverness.  Let  him  be  removed 
at  once.  We  have  word  from  the  vessel  outside 
that  they  are  short  of  oxygen,  and  you  must  be 
locked  out  and  clear  the  passage." 

With  a  shuffling  of  many  feet  the  form  of  the 
third  bearer  of  Karl  Armstadt's  pedigree  was  car- 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED        341 

ried  from  the  cabin,  and  the  door  was  kicked  shut. 

I  was  still  lying  cramped  in  my  hiding  place  when 
I  felt  the  vessel  moving  again.  Then  a  sailor  came, 
bringing  a  case  from  which  I  took  fresh  clothing. 
As  I  was  dressing  I  felt  my  ear  drums  pain  from  the 
increased  air  pressure,  and  I  heard,  as  from. a  great 
distance,  the  roar  of  the  water  being  let  into  the 
lock.  From  the  quiet  swaying  of  the  floor  beneath 
me  I  soon  sensed  that  we  were  afloat.  I  waited 
in  the  cabin  until  I  felt  the  quiver  of  motors,  now 
distinguished  by  the  lesser  throb  and  smoother  run- 
ning, from  the  drive  on  the  wheeled  trucks  through 
the  tunnel. 

I  opened  the  cabin  door  and  went  out.  Grauble 
was  at  the  instrument  board.  The  mate  stood  aft 
among  the  motor  controls;  all  men  were  at  their 
posts,  for  we  were  navigating  the  difficult  subter- 
ranean passage  that  led  to  the  open  sea. 

As  I  approached  Grauble  he  spoke  without  lifting 
his  eyes  from  his  instruments.  "  Go  bring  the 
Princess  out  of  her  hiding;  I  want  my  men  to  see 
her  now.      It  will  help  to  give  them  faith." 

Marguerite  came  with  me  and  stood  trembling  at 
my  side  as  we  watched  Grauble,  whose  eyes  still  riv- 
eted upon  the  many  dials  and  indicators  before  him. 

"Watch  the  chart,"  said  Grauble.  "The  red 
hand  shows  our  position." 

The  chart  before  him  was  slowly  passing  over 
rolls.  For  a  time  we  could  only  see  a  straight  line 
thereon  bordered  by  many  signs  and  figures.  Then 
slowly  over  the  topmost  roll  came  the  wavy  outlines 


,342         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

of  a  shore,  and  the  parallel  lines  marking  the  depths 
of  the  bordering  sea.  Tensely  we  watched  the  chart 
roll  slowly  down  till  the  end  of  the  channel  passed 
the  indicator. 

Grauble  breathed  a  great  sigh  of  relief  and  for  the 
first  time  turned  his  face  towards  us.  "  We  are  in 
the  open  sea,"  he  said,  "  at  a  depth  of  160  metres. 
I  shall  turn  north  at  once  and  parallel  the  coast. 
You  had  better  get  some  rest;  for  the  present  noth- 
ing can  happen.  It  is  night  above  now  but  in  six 
more  hours  will  be  the  dawn,  then  we  shall  rise  and 
take  our  bearings  through  the  periscope." 

I  led  Marguerite  into  the  Captain's  cabin  and  in- 
sisted that  she  lie  down  on  the  narrow  berth. 
Seated  in  the  only  chair,  I  related  what  I  knew  of 
the  affair  at  the  locks.  "  It  must  have  been,"  I 
concluded,  after  much  speculation,  "  that  Hol- 
knecht  finally  got  the  attention  of  the  Chemical  Staff 
and  related  what  he  knew  of  the  incident  of  the  pot- 
ash mines.  They  had  enough  data  about  me  to 
have  arrived  at  the  correct  conclusion  long  ago.  It 
was  a  question  of  getting  the  facts  together." 

"  It  was  that,"  said  Marguerite,  "  or  else  I  am  to 
blame." 

"  And  what  do  you  mean?  "  I  asked. 

"  I  mean,"  she  said,  "  that  I  took  a  great  risk 
about  which  I  must  tell  you,  for  it  troubles  my  con- 
science. After  I  had  sent  for  the  Admiral  and  he 
had  promised  to  come,  I  telephoned  to  Dr.  Zimmern 
of  my  intention  to  get  von  Kufner  to  take  me  to 
the  docks  and  my  hope  that  I  could  come  with  you. 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED         343 

And  it  may  be  that  some  one  listened  in  on  our  con- 
versation." 

"  I  do  not  see,"  I  said,  "  how  such  a  conversation 
should  lead  to  the  discovery  of  my  identity  —  the 
Holknecht  theory  is  more  reasonable  —  but  you  did 
take  a  risk.     Why  did  you  do  it?  " 

"  I  wanted  to  tell  him  good-bye,"  said  Marguerite. 
"  It  was  hard  enough  that  I  could  not  see  him." 
And  she  turned  her  face  to  the  pillow  and  began  to 
weep. 

"  What  is  it,  my  dear?  "  I  pleaded,  as  I  knelt  be- 
side her.  "  It  was  all  right,  of  course.  Why  are 
you  crying  —  you  do  not  think,  do  you,  that  Dr. 
Zimmern  betrayed  us?  " 

Marguerite  raised  herself  upon  her  elbow  and 
looked  at  me  with  hurt  surprise.  "  Do  you  think 
that?  "  she  demanded,  almost  fiercely. 

"  By  no  means,"  I  hastened  to  assure  her,  "  but 
I  do  not  understand  your  grief  and  I  only  thought 
that  perhaps  when  you  told  him  he  was  angered  — 
I  never  understood  why  he  seemed  so  anxious  not  to 
have  you  go  with  me." 

"  Oh,  my  dear,"  sobbed  Marguerite.  "  Of 
course  you  never  understood,  because  we  too  had  a 
secret  that  has  been  kept  from  you,  and  you  have 
been  so  apologetic  because  you  feared  so  long  to 
confide  in  me  and  I  have  been  even  slower  to  con- 
fide in  you." 

For  a  moment  black  rebellion  rose  in  my  heart, 
for  though  with  my  reasoning  I  had  accepted  the 
explanation  that  Zimmern  had  given  for  his  interest 


344         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

in  Marguerite,  I  had  never  quite  accepted  it  in  my 
unreasoning  heart.  And  in  the  depths  of  me  the 
battle  between  love  and  reason  and  the  dark  forces 
of  jealous  unreason  and  suspicion  had  smouldered, 
to  break  out  afresh  on  the  least  provocation. 

I  fought  again  to  conquer  these  dark  forces,  for 

I  had  many  times  forgiven  her  even  the  thing  which 
suspicion  charged.  And  as  I  struggled  now  the 
sound  of  Marguerite's  words  came  sweeping  through 
my  soul  like  a  great  cleansing  wind,  for  she  said  — 

II  The  secret  that  I  have  kept  back  from  you  and 
that  I  have  wanted  so  often  to  tell  you  is  that  Dr. 
Zimmern  is  my  father!  " 

7 
In  the  early  dawn  of  a  foggy  morning  we  beached 
the  Kit  el  3  on  a  sandy  stretch  of  Danish  shore  within 
a  few  kilometres  of  an  airdome  of  the  World  Pa- 
trol. A  native  fisherman  took  Grauble,  Marguerite 
and  myself  in  his  hydroplane  to  the  post,  where  we 
found  the  commander  at  his  breakfast.  He  was  a 
man  of  quick  intelligence.  Our  strange  garb  was 
sufficient  to  prove  us  Germans,  while  a  brief  and 
accurate  account  of  the  attempted  rescue  of  the 
mines  of  Stassfurt,  given  in  perfect  English,  sufficed 
to  credit  my  reappearance  in  the  affairs  of  the  free 
world  as  a  matter  of  grave  and  urgent  importance. 
A  squad  of  men  were  sent  at  once  to  guard  the 
vessel  that  had  been  left  in  charge  of  the  mate. 
Within  a  few  hours  we  three  were  at  the  seat  of 
the  World  Government  at  Geneva. 


THE  BLACK  SPOT  ERASED        345 

Grauble  surrendered  his  charts  of  the  secret  pas- 
sage and  was  made  a  formal  prisoner  of  state,  un- 
til the  line  of  the  passage  could  be  explored  by  bor- 
ings and  the  reality  of  its  existence  verified. 

I  was  in  daily  conference  with  the  Council  in  re- 
gard to  momentous  actions  that  were  set  speedily 
a-going.  The  submarine  tunnel  was  located  and  the 
passage  blocked.  A  fleet  of  ice  crushers  and  ex- 
ploring planes  were  sent  to  locate  the  protium  mines 
of  the  Arctic.  The  proclamation  of  these  calamities 
to  the  continued  isolated  existence  of  Germany  and 
the  terms  of  peace  and  amnesty  were  sent  showering 
down  through  the  clouds  to  the  roof  of  Berlin. 

Marguerite  and  I  had  taken  up  our  residence  in 
a  cottage  on  the  lake  shore,  and  there  as  I  slept  late 
into  the  sunlit  hours  of  a  July  morning,  I  heard  the 
clatter  of  a  telephone  annunciator.  I  sat  bolt  up- 
right listening  to  the  words  of  the  instrument  — 

"  Berlin  has  shut  off  the  Ray  generators  of  the 
defence  mines. —  all  over  the  desert  of  German  soil 
men  are  pouring  forth  from  the  ventilating  shafts  — 
the  roof  of  Berlin  is  a-swarm  with  a  mass  of  men 
frolicking  in  the  sunlight  —  the  planes  of  the  World 
Patrol  have  alighted  on  the  roof  and  have  received 
and  flashed  back  the  news  of  the  abdication  of  the 
Emperor  and  the  capitulation  of  Berlin  —  the  world 
armies  of  the  mines  are  out  and  marching  forth  to 
police  the  city — " 

The  voice  of  the  instrument  ceased. 
I  looked  about  for  Marguerite  and  saw  her  not. 
I  was  up  and  running  through  the  rooms  of  the  cot- 


346         CITY  OF  ENDLESS  NIGHT 

tage.  I  reached  the  outer  door  and  saw  her  in  the 
garden,  robed  in  a  gown  of  gossamer  white,  her 
hair  streaming  loose  about  her  shoulders  and  gleam- 
ing golden  brown  in  the  quivering  light.  She  was 
holding  out  her  hands  to  the  East,  where  o'er  the 
far-flung  mountain  craigs  the  God  of  Day  beamed 
down  upon  his  worshipper. 

In  a  frenzy  of  wild  joy  I  called  to  her — "  Baby- 
lon is  fallen  —  is  fallen  !  The  black  spot  is  erased 
from  the  map  of  the  world!  " 


THE    END 


FOR  BETTER,    *2.oo 
FOR  WORSE 

By  W.  B.  Maxwell,  author  of 
The  Guarded  Flame,  The 
Devil's  Garden,  etc. 

The  novel  that  begins  with  "and 
so  they  were  married"  appeals,  for 
then  the  real  adventure  of  modern 
civilized  life  commences.  In  a 
novel  of  very  great  power,  W.  B. 
Maxwell  presents  the  life-story  of 
a  charming,  well-bred  girl,  and  he 
shows,  step  by  step,  the  causes  and 
events  that  led  to  her  marriage, 
and  then,  step  by  step,  the  course 
of  her  life  as  a  result  of  that  mar- 
riage. It  is  a  story  that  never 
fails  in  interest,  which  leads  on 
to  a  tremendous  climax.  The 
characterization  is  wonderful : 
the  characters  standing  out  as 
clear  and  distinct  and  individual 
as  one's  next  door  neighbors.  It 
is  a  story  that  one  completes  with 
regret  and  remembers  with  pleas- 
ure. The  author  of  Vivien,  The 
Devil's  Garden  and  other  books 
has  won  his  reputation  as  one  of 
the  ablest  and  most  finished  of 
present  day  novelists.  For  Bet- 
ter, For  Worse  will  add  even  to 
his  reputation. 

DODD,  MEAD  &  COMPANY 


NEW     AUTUMN     FICTION 

For  Better, 
For  Worse 

By  W.B.Maxwell 

Author  of  "The 
Devil's  Garden,"  etc. 

West  Wind 
Drift 

By  George  Barr 
McCutcheon 

A  uthor  of 
"Sherry"  etc. 


Egan 


ByllolworthyHall 

Author  of  "The  Man 
Nobody  Knew"  etc. 

The 
Inevitable 

By  Louis 
Couperus 

Author  of  "Small 
Souls  "  etc. 

The  Bridge 
of  Kisses 

B)  Berta  Buck 

A  uthor  of 

•thearts 
I  ritnet"  etc. 


A  story  that  never  fails  in  interest,  which  leads 
on  to  a  tremendous  climax.  The  characteri- 
zation is  wonderful:  the  characters  standing  out 
as  clear  and  distinct  and  individual  as  one's  next 
door  neighbors.  It  is  a  story  that  one  completes 
with  regret  and  remembers  with  pleasure.  "For 
Better,  For  Worse"  is  fiction  that  has  not  been 
surpassed  by  any  writer  in  recent  years. 

The  remarkable  story  of  the  shipwreck  of  a 
gjreat  modern  liner  on  an  uninhabited  island, 
where  the  passengers  built  homes,  established  a 
government,  created  laws  and  enforced  them, 
and  kepi  the  fires  of  courage  burning  through 
the  years  that  followed.  In  this  strange  history 
are  to  l>e  found  all  the  human  elements — love, 
honor,  hatred,  courage. 

Bronsorj  Egan  n  a  vigorous,  deadly  earnest, 
two-fisted  young  American,  who  had  to  regain 
the  position  he  had  lo>t  in  his  native  town 
through  hi>  absence  as  a  soldier.  And  he  did  it. 
"Egan"  i>  a  Btorj  of  struggles  and  love  and  suc- 
cess;  it  i-  as  American  as  corn  on  the  cob;  as  up 
to  date  as  the  II .  C.  of  L. 

A  mod. hi  novel  of  cosmopolitan  life  in  Rome 
and  on  the  French  Riviera.  The  heroine  is  a 
young  Dutch  baroness  who  falls  in  love  with 
one  of  her  feUowoountrymen,  a  painter  visit- 
ing  Home  for  the  purpose  of  studying  his  art. 
(  ireful  students  consider  this  the  most  brill- 
iant and  masterly  novel  Couperus  has  yet  writ- 
ten. 

Berta  Ruck's  specialty  is  the  writing  of  love 
storit^:  sweet,  sentimental  adventures  of  youth 
ending  in  the  climax  "and  so  they  were  married 
and  lived  happily  ever  after."  And  it  is  difficult 
to  think  of  anyone  who  writes  of  these  courses  of 
true  love  with  such  cleverness,  such  freshness, 
such  sympathy,  as  Berta  Ruck.  In  "The 
Bridge  of  Kisses"  a  lonely  engineer  comes  to  a 
little  English  country  town,  and  his  purpose  is  to 
build  a  bridge.  He  becomes  acquainted  with  a 
charming  >i'\t\.  Enough,  that  "The  Bridge  of 
K  i&84 •-"  is  well  named. 


.  MMMMMMMa>i  Ml  M  I   I 


i'.-C'.'.nirMiiiiiii.iiiiiirt 


Published  by  DODD,  MEAD  &   COMPANY,  Ne*   York 


